


Cinnamon

by Malana



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, General, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-12-01
Updated: 2009-12-01
Packaged: 2017-10-04 01:51:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 41,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malana/pseuds/Malana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An angry reaction from Alex turns several worlds upside down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own no part of Grey's Anatomy, or any of the characters contained in this story.  
> Spoilers: Set sometime early in season 3.  
> 

\--------

It was probably her lip gloss. It had to be her lip gloss. People didn't naturally taste like cinnamon.

But on this issue Alex ignored all logic, and ascribed the sensation to her directly.

\-----------

It started after an argument. They argued a lot.

But during one particular fight, she followed him all the way to the on-call room, yelling at him the entire way. He took it for awhile, not responding to her at all. Finally, he had had enough and whirled around to face her. They were nose to nose. She fell silent. They locked eyes.

And then she kissed him.

In his mind, that was a rather important point. She kissed him. She started it.

Of course he responded. How could anyone not respond? He may hate her. But she was still hot.

And just as suddenly as it had started, it was over. She pulled away and straightened her clothes.

And before he could say anything she turned and left. Leaving him alone, confused, frustrated, but not just a little bit pleased at the new turn of events.

\--------

It happened more after that. It wasn't every day. It wasn't after every fight. But Alex began to be able to predict when it would happen. Some days she'd come to work looking particularly hollow. And those were the days when fights would turn into something more.

When he first made the connection, he tried to stop it. Alex knew he wasn't the world's greatest guy. But there were things he wouldn't do. She had lost the love of her life, after all. She may be a strong woman, but of course there were going to be days when that still killed her inside. He didn't want to be the guy who took advantage of that, no matter how much he might enjoy their time together.

But when he had confronted her on it, she simply shook her head. She told him that she was the one taking advantage. She told him that no matter what he might think, this was actually helping her. She looked him straight in the eye and told him this, and he believed her.

\--------

He still hated her. But he also respected her. And not only as a doctor. He was pretty sure she felt the same way about him.

The things that happened in the on-call room, and in the supply closets...they were fun. They were stress relief and a nice break from the day.

But then Alex found himself feeling protective. He wasn't expecting it, but there it was.

\---------

He saw her by the nurses' station, talking with Doctor Shepherd. He wasn't close enough to hear what was being said, but he could tell that it wasn't anything pleasant. She left, tears in her eyes, and Shepherd just turned around like nothing had happened, and smiled at Meredith who had come into view.

Alex wasn't even sure of what he was going to say. He just knew he wanted to hurt this man. But when he saw Shepherd put a hand on the small of Meredith's back and whisper something in her ear, he realized he had something of his own to whisper.

He casually walked up to the couple, pausing just long enough to say what he had to say, low enough that only Shepherd could hear. But it was long enough to see the jealousy and anger flare in the surgeon's eyes. It was long enough to see the smirk fade from Shepherd's face, just as one that mirrored it crossed his own. Separated from her or not, the so-called McDreamy apparently hadn't completely gotten over her yet.

And then he was off down the hallway, leaving Shepherd to stew in the wake of five little words.

"Your wife tastes like cinnamon."


	2. Chapter 2

Addison sat alone in the on-call room. She took long, deep breaths, trying to steady herself, trying to stop the tears that were rolling down her face.

She hated that Derek could make her feel so worthless. She had stopped by the nurses' station to pick up a chart. Derek was there, of course. It didn't matter how large the damned hospital was, she still seemed to run into Derek several times a day.

He had started in on her right away. A snide comment about seeing her at the same table as Mark in the cafeteria earlier. The way he was going on, one would have thought that he had seen them going at it right there on the table, rather than simply sharing a meal.

Addison hadn't even wanted Mark to sit down beside her. She couldn't think when he has around.

Mark made her dizzy. He made her feel needed and sexy. And she cared for him. She really did. It was beyond sexual attraction. There was something more there. There was a part of her that loved Mark. And loved him deeply.

But she couldn't do it. She couldn't give into him. She couldn't be with him. Because even though every time she saw him a jolt of sexual desire went through her like an electric shock, there was also guilt. There was always guilt with Mark. And there always would be.

It didn't matter that Derek had gone back to Meredith. It didn't matter that her marriage was completely over. Because Mark was the reason it was over. Meredith may have some responsibility, but in the end, if Addison had never slept with Mark, Derek never would have even come to Seattle, never would have met Meredith, never would have slept with her during the prom, never would have left her panties in his tux pocket, never would have left his wife of eleven years for her.

Mark was a reminder of everything that had gone wrong in her life. So, no matter how much he might make her go weak in the knees...he just wasn't an option.

But Derek was ever eager to cast her as the evil whore, even now that they had started the divorce proceedings. Even though it was his mistress that was the final nail in the coffin of their marriage, Derek still took every chance he got to be cruel.

"Doctor Shepherd?"

Addison nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't even heard the door open. She looked up to see Alex standing in the doorway.

She hastily wiped the tears from her cheeks. She may have taken to kissing him in supply closets lately, but she didn't want to cry in front of him. It wasn't as if there was any emotional closeness between them.

"Please, Doctor Karev. I'm going back to using Montgomery now."

Alex seemed to hesitate, and Addison sighed.

"What is it, Karev?"

"Your husband's a jackass."

"Ex-husband," she corrected. "Or close enough anyway."

"Whatever. He's a jackass."

"I cheated on him."

Alex nodded, "Yeah, you did. But he lost the right to give you shit about that when he slept with Grey on prom night. He's a jackass. And you deserve better. That's all I wanted to say."

Addison looked at the floor for a long moment before she looked back up at Alex.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Alex didn't say anything. He just gave a curt nod and left, closing the door behind him.

Addison shook her head, surprised at Alex's kind words. Despite their now numerous physical dalliances, she and Alex still didn't even get along. She had gained some respect for the intern when she had him working with her everyday. He had the makings of a good doctor, maybe even a great one. But they still fought all the time. In fact, it was the fighting that always led to them finding themselves alone in the on-call room and in supply closets and, one very memorable time, in the women's rest room on the third floor.

It was all physical. And yet, obviously Alex had seen she was upset and followed her. He had seen she was hurt, and he had tried to fix it. She didn't quite know what to make of that. But she was touched.

She heard the door open again, and looked up, half-expecting to see Alex again. Instead...

"Derek." She wondered if he had come to apologize.

Derek crossed his arms over his chest, glaring. "And just what in the hell do you think you're doing?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Addison stared at Derek, confused. "What?"

"What. Do. You. Think. You're. Doing?" Derek repeated, practically spitting the words out.

Anger rapidly overtook confusion. Addison got to her feet and closed the space between her husband and herself, until they stood toe-to-toe.

"What I'm doing, is sitting here crying because the man I was married to for eleven years has apparently decided that his new hobby is treating me like garbage."

Derek looked at the floor for a second, and Addison thought he was ashamed. But when he looked up at her again, she still saw rage in his eyes.

"You're sleeping with Dr. Karev."

Addison was momentarily stunned.

"Don't even bother trying to deny it either. He told me."

At that point Addison didn't know which of the two men she was more angry with. Derek for his self-righteousness, or Alex for telling him about their recent rendezvous. "What exactly that did he tell you."

"He told me what you taste like. Just a minute a go. I was with Meredith and he came by and whispered in my ear, 'Your wife tastes like cinnamon.' So tell me, how the hell does Alex Karev know what my wife tastes like?"

Addison decided that, at this exact point in time, she was definitely angrier with Derek than she was with Alex.

"Your wife, huh? That's interesting. Because every time that anyone questions your relationship with Meredith, you're pretty damn quick to point out that I'm your soon-to-be ex-wife."

Derek flinched a little, but Addison had fought with him enough times in the course of their relationship that she knew he wasn't ready to back down yet.

"Does Mark know that you're cheating on him? Not that he should be surprised that you are. It is your MO after all."

Addison's face turned red with anger. Derek may be good at hurting her, but she was just as good at hurting him. "I'm not cheating on Mark, you bastard. I'm not with Mark. And get off your high horse, because I'm not the only one in our marriage who cheated. You told me, you promised me, that you were going to work on fixing our marriage.

You invited me to prom. You invited me to prom, Derek. And I was so happy. And I found the perfect dress and I did my hair and make-up, and I felt like I was the high school girl who was going to the prom with the boy of her dreams. I was happy, and I thought that things just might actually work out between us. And then you left me on the dance floor and you went upstairs and fucked Meredith Grey.

You invited me to prom; you fucked another women, and then you left her panties in the pocket of the tux jacket that you put around my shoulders at the end of the night.

So guess what, Derek? You don't get to play the victim any more. You don't get to play the heroic guy with the wife who wronged him! I slept with Mark when I thought our marriage was slipping away. You slept with Meredith when I thought we were putting it back together."

Addison could feel tears once again running down her face, but this time she ignored them.

Derek closed his eyes, and sighed deeply. When he opened his eyes again, Addison could see tears glistening in them.

"Addy," Derek began softly, reaching a hand up to Addison's face.

Addison jerked away from him. "No," she shook her head. "Whatever you're going to say, I don't want to hear it. Not now." She brushed past him to the doorway.

Opening the door, she stepped through. She paused for a moment, then turned back to Derek, who still had his back to her.

"You chose Meredith, Derek. You've said that you love her. You've made it abundantly clear that she's the one you want to be with. So why do you care so much that I'm sleeping with Alex Karev? Why would you care at all?"

Without waiting for a response, she turned once more and left the room, closing the door behind her.

She immediately went to the nearest restroom. She knew she must look horrible, and she wanted to splash some water on her face. Actually, what she really wanted was to go and curl up in bed with a mug of hot cocoa, or maybe a stiff drink. But she still had several hours of work ahead of her. At the very least she could face the rest of her day without a tear-stained face.

Addison stood in front of the sink and sighed. Her reflection in the mirror stared back at her. A splash of water on the face hadn't quite been enough. Her eyes were red, her skin was splotchy, and her hair was a mess.

She was running her fingers through her hair, trying to give it some semblance of neatness, when the restroom door swung open. She turned to see a familiar face. One that shared Addison's puffy eyes and sad expression.

"Doctor Stevens."

"Doctor Shepherd." Izzie look startled. She obviously had been hoping to find the room empty, just as Addison had. She also obviously noticed Addison's current state. "I'm sorry. I can go if..."

Addison waved her off. "No, no. It's fine. I guess I'm not the only one having a bad day."

Izzie nodded absently as she stepped to a mirror and began fiddling with her hair. "It's my first day back."

"How are you doing?" Addison was concerned about the blonde intern. She knew she wasn't Izzie's favorite person, not after the incident with the quints. But she saw some of herself in the young woman.

"It's hard. Being back. I was doing alright, but then I had to check on a patient. And he was in Denny's room. I just...I couldn't..." Izzie trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Addison said softly. There wasn't really anything else she could say. "But for what it's worth, I'm glad you're back. You're a good doctor."

Addison watched as Izzie took a deep breath and seemed to steady herself a little. She studied her reflection in the mirror.

"I look like crap, don't I?"

Addison couldn't help but chuckle. "Trust me, you look better than I do right now."

"Are you alright, Dr. Shepherd?"

Addison was touched that Izzie seemed to be genuinely concerned. "Just one more in long line of fights with the man I thought was the love of my life. And please, I'm Dr. Montgomery now."

Izzie nodded and looked thoughtful. Addison didn't really expect her to say anything. After all, Meredith was Izzie's friend. She couldn't expect the Izzie to declare Meredith and Derek to be horrible people who wronged her terribly.

"I'm sorry," Izzie said, and then began digging through her purse. She pulled out a small comb and handed it to Addison.

"Thank you," Addison replied as she took the comb. It may have been a small gesture, but it was a kind one.

"Doctor Stevens, I've have a surgery tomorrow. It's a fairly complicated procedure, and a rare one. I'm one of a handful of surgeons in this country that performs it. Would you like to assist?"

Izzie hesitated, then nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"Good. I'll arrange it with Bailey." Addison finished fixing her hair and handed Izzie back her comb. She didn't look perfect, but she was presentable. "I'll see you tomorrow then," Addison said as she headed for the door.

"Doctor Montgomery?" Izzie called after her.

"Yes?" Addison paused.

"Thank you. And for what it's worth, Meredith's my friend. And I wouldn't say anything bad about her. But your husband? He's kind of a jerk."

Addison smiled as she stepped into the hallway. It was a small gesture. But often it was the small gestures that made all the difference.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, the Shepherds had another fight?" Christina asked as she reached across the table and grabbed a French fry from George's tray.

Izzie nodded her head. "But she's not Doctor Shepherd anymore. She's using Montgomery."

"What were they fighting about?" George asked.

"I don't know," Izzie said, shrugging her shoulders. "I probably shouldn't' have mentioned it to you guys anyway. She was really nice to me. She's letting me in on her surgery tomorrow."

"Who is letting you in on surgery tomorrow?" Alex asked as he put his tray down on the table and took a seat.

"Dr. Montgomery."

"I still cannot believe you saw her crying in the bathroom," Christina said.

Alex looked up sharply, "She was crying in the bathroom?" He swore under his breath.

The other interns shot him odd looks.

"Why do you care?" Christina asked incredulously.

Alex shrugged and tried to look bored. "I don't. I'm just surprised. She's normally such a hard-ass."

"Izzie said she saw McDreamy coming out of the on-call room, looking pissed-off and then she ran into Montgomery in the bathroom, looking like hell." Christina offered.

"We think the two things are related," George said through a bite of sandwich.

"Son-of-a-bitch." Alex pushed away his lunch tray and shot to his feet. Before the others could respond Alex was striding away from the table, a determined look on his face.

The interns looked after him in confusion.

"What was that?" George asked.

Izzie shook her head, "I have no idea."

Christina stared after Alex for a moment before turning back to her friends. She looked suspicious, "Hey, you guys don't think that Alex and Dr. Montgomery are..." She trailed off."

"Ew!" George wrinkled his nose.

"No way," Izzie said. "They hate each other. Do you remember how much Alex complained when he was assigned to Dr. Montgomery every day?"

Christina shrugged, "Why else would he care if she was crying in the bathroom?"

George shook his head repeatedly. "No. No. No. That's just...It's wrong. It's wrong and gross."

"Why is it gross?" Christina asked. "He's hot. She's hot."

"But he's Alex." George said.

"That's a very good point," Christina conceded.

"It's gotta be something else," Izzie maintained.

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

\--------------

Alex got all the way out of the cafeteria before he realized what he was doing. He had just stormed away from the table because he heard that Dr. Montgomery was upset again. He wondered what Izzie and the others must be thinking.

But it wasn't just his lack of discretion that made him pause. Why did he care that she was crying in the bathroom? She was a fling. That was all. They occasionally gropped in supply closets. That was it. That was the sum total of their relationship.

Yeah, he had thrown it in Derek's face when Derek had upset her earlier. But that had been more about hating Dr. Shepherd than it having any real feelings for Dr. Montgomery. He had been able to dismiss his earlier comforting for her as well. It was just an extension of his dislike for her husband.

But when he had heard what Izzie had seen, he had just been overwhelmed with the need to go find Addison. Sure, it was combined with an overwhelming need to punch Derek Shepherd in the face, but that was secondary.

Alex stopped walking and almost turned around and walked back to the cafeteria. But he couldn't make himself do it. Instead he found himself getting into the elevator.

He got off on the third floor and started walking the halls, looking for Dr. Montgomery.

"Doctor Karev."

Alex turned and groaned.

"Doctor Shepherd." Alex's jaw clenched.

"You're mine this afternoon."

"Excuse me?"

Derek smirked. "I already cleared it with Bailey."

"Dude, why would you do that?" Alex glared.

"Because I've decided I want to get to know the man who's sleeping with my wife."

"Your ex-wife"

"Not yet." Derek's smirk broadened. "Now, come on. We have patients to see."

Derek started off down the hall and with a sigh Alex followed after him.

\---------

Around the corner, Mark Sloan stood, clenching and unclenching his fists. It seemed he'd have to have a talk with the young Doctor Karev.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, Blonde Doctor!"

Izzie stood in front of the coffee-maker machine, filling her mug. She figured the blonde doctor comment might be directed at her, but there was no way in hell she was going to respond to it.

"Blonde Model Doctor Girl!"

Izzie fumed, but steadfastly ignored the call. She careful tore open a package of sugar and stirred it into her coffee.

"Hey!" The voice was closer now.

Izzie continued to stir her coffee. It wasn't until she felt a tapping on her shoulder that she responded. She sighed and slowly turned, finding herself face to face with Mark Sloan.

She raised her eyebrows, "Can I help you with something?"

Mark glared at her. "I was calling you."

Izzie nodded. "Yeah, I heard you." She began walking briskly away.

Mark stared after her for a few moments before hurrying after her.

"If you heard me," he began as he fell into step beside her, "why didn't you respond?"

Izzie didn't even turn to look at him. "I don't respond to 'Blonde Doctor' and I certainly don't respond to 'Blonde Model Doctor Girl.' I would respond to just plain Doctor. Or Izzie. Or Stevens. Doctor Stevens would be best."

Mark smirked. "Well, sure. But calling out 'Doctor' in a hospital would probably draw the attentions of just about everybody. So, I decided I'd go with the much for specific Blonde Model Doctor Girl. As you are blonde, and a girl. And I know you're a model." His grin grew even bigger; "After all, I have seen you in your underwear."

Izzie rolled her eyes in disgust. "Okay, I'm done talking to you now."

"No, you're not."

"Excuse me?"

Mark smirked yet again, and Izzie wished she could slap him.

"You're working with me this afternoon."

Izzie shot him a confused look. "I'm working with Doctor Shepherd today."

"Not anymore," Mark handed her a patient's file. "Doctor Shepherd had a sudden desire to work with Alex Karev, who previously had the pleasure of being assigned to me. Bailey agreed to the switch without running it by me, because apparently she's decided it's fun to piss me off. So, Derek now has Alex, and I get you."

"Well, I guess this is just my lucky day then."

"Don't be so glum, Doctor Stevens," he made certain to emphasize her name. "After all, you'll get to spend the afternoon learning from one of the best."

Izzie crossed her arms over her chest. "I spent the morning learning from one of the best."

"Yeah, but I'm less of a jackass then Derek."

Izzie snorted. "Sure, because you seem like such a great guy."

Mark chose to ignore Izzie's sarcastic tone. "I am a great guy." He grabbed the coffee mug from Izzie's hand and took a sip, ignoring her cry of protest. "That's why you're going to tell me everything you know about Alex Karev." He handed the mug back and smiled.

"Why do you want to know about Alex?"

"I just do."

Izzie shook her head. "No."

Mark looked around the mildly crowded hallway, then pulled Izzie into an empty lounge.

"Why not?"

Izzie glared. "Alex is my friend. I'm not going to tell you anything about him until you tell me exactly what you're after."

Mark cocked an eyebrow, "He's your friend? Because the way I heard it you two used to be a thing before you caught him sleeping with some nurse. And then you dumped him again in favor of a patient who you ending up killing."

Izzie felt the blood drain from her face. "Go to hell," she spat before whirling around and heading back into the hallway.

She had gotten a good couple of yards before someone grabbed her shoulder. She stopped walking and turned to face Mark once again.

"What now?" she asked.

Mark held up his hands apologetically. "Look, I'm sorry about that. I just really need to know about Alex."

Izzie crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot, "Why?"

Mark studied her face for a moment, then nodded. "Because he's sleeping with the woman I love."

Izzie just stared back at him. "You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

"What do you want from me?"

Derek stared at Alex evenly, "What I want is for you to keep your slimy little hands off of my wife."

Alex snorted, "Look, Dude. You're getting a divorce. You're with Meredith. Where my hands are is none of your business."

"I'm making it my business."

"Why?"

Derek ignored the question. "You said that Addison tastes like cinnamon."

Alex crossed his hands over his chest, wondering where this was going, "Yeah." He noticed that Derek wasn't even looking at him at this point. Instead the brain surgeon was staring into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

"Do you know why?" Derek asked absently, "Why she tastes like cinnamon, I mean."

Alex shifted uneasily, "Her lip gloss."

"I bought it for her."

"What?"

"It's actually not lip gloss. It's chapstick. Cheap chapstick." Derek continued to stare into space, "Back when we were in Med School, I was broke. I mean, really broke. My family had some money, but I was insistent about making it on my own. And it was Addison's birthday. We weren't dating yet, but I had already fallen for it. Anyway, it was her birthday and there was a party.

"Our friends were all pretty rich, Addison was too. She got several expensive gifts, a cashmere sweater, concert tickets, that kind of thing. I had exactly three dollars and fifty-seven cents with which to buy her a present.

"Addison wasn't a snob, but she had expensive tastes. And I was frantic about finding something for her. We were friends, but I was sure that if I found the perfect gift she'd see me in a new light.

"Of course, I couldn't think of anything that I could afford to get her. So I was walking around the drug store, trying to find something that wasn't completely pathetic. I had almost given up when I saw this display of chapstick, the kind that little girls buy when their parents won't let them buy make-up yet.

"Addison love's cinnamon. She had told me that months before, and I remembered it-I remembered every detail that Addy told me. She said it reminded her of her grandfather, who always use to give her cinnamon candies.

"So, I bought her a tube of cinnamon chapstick. I even had enough money to buy some ribbon to tie on it. I didn't have the nerve to give it to her in front of our friends. But when the party broke-up, Addison and I were sitting on her futon, talking late into the night. She fell asleep, and I left the present on her desk and then slipped out.

"The next day, we had lunch together. She didn't mention the gift, and I felt humiliated. But that night she showed up at my door, and she kissed me. She tasted like cinnamon."

Alex sighed, "Look, Man..."

But Derek cut him off. "Addison has a six-figure income. But she still buys that chapstick. She wears it over lipstick that costs 30 bucks a tube." He shook his head and seemed to come out of his reverie. He glared at Alex, "So, when try to rub my face in the fact that your having sex with Addison, I have a right to get a little upset. I know your type, Alex. You're like a junior version of Mark. You're just using her like you did Doctor Stevens, and who knows how many other women."

Alex's jaw clenched, "I didn't use Izzie."

Derek raised his eyebrows, "Come on, do you really think that the interns are the only ones who hear hospital gossip? You lost Stevens because she caught you having sex with a nurse. Real classy."

"And you're a class act? The guy who got involved with an intern and didn't tell her he was married? The guy who chose to stay with his wife, then had sex with said intern while his wife was a few floors away?" Alex shook his head, and began to walk away. "Screw you, Dude."

"Stay away from Addison!" Derek shouted after him.

"Derek? What's going on?"

Derek turned to see Meredith standing behind him, a questioning look on her face.

"Meredith! How long have you been standing there?"

Meredith shrugged, "Just long enough to hear you tell Alex to stay away from Doctor Montgomery. What's going on?"

Derek sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Alex and Addison are sleeping together."

Meredith wrinkled her nose, "Okay...and that involves you how?"

"He's sleeping with my wife!" Derek exclaimed.

"Your soon-to-be ex-wife," A voice from behind him said evenly. "And we actually haven't had sex."

Derek turned around again. He stood between Addison and Meredith, both of whom had their arms crossed over their chests, and annoyed expressions on their faces.

"Well," he said with a sigh, "This is going to be fun."

\-----------------


	6. Chapter 6

\------------

"Doctor Sloan was asking about you."

Alex was lying down on a couch in the lounge, his eyes closed. But when he heard Izzie's voice he opened his eyes.

"He was asking about me?" He asked, sitting up.

"Yep." Izzie nodded and sat down next to Alex.

"You told him I'm good, right? I mean, you told him I have real talent." Alex was hopeful. Maybe he'd actually get to scrub in on some surgeries with the plastic surgeon.

But Izzie bit her lip and shook her head. "He wasn't asking about your skills as a doctor."

Alex was confused, "Then what did he want to know?"

"He wanted to know about you as a person."

A horrible thought dawned on Alex then. "Why would he want to know about that," he asked slowly.

Izzie's lips quirked up in a brief smile, "You know, I asked him the same thing."

"Would you just tell me?" Alex demanded impatiently.

Izzie dropped her voice to a whisper, "He says it's because you are having sex with the woman he loves."

"Oh god."

"So, is it true?" Izzie asked excitedly. "Are you sleeping with Addison?"

"No."

"Oh," Izzie's smile fell a little.

"We haven't actually had sex. We've just made-out a little."

Izzie's grinned returned, "Okay, you absolutely must tell me everything. Seriously."

Alex shot her an odd look, "Why are you so happy about this anyway?"

Izzie shrugged, then got serious. "Look, Alex. Things went bad between us. I was so angry at you when you slept with Olivia. But that doesn't mean that I should have treated you the way I did when I..." Izzie's voice trailed off.

"When you fell in love with Denny?" Alex finished for her.

"Yeah." For a moment Alex thought Izzie was going to start to cry, but then she pulled herself back together. "Okay, when Sloan first told me, I did think 'ew', you know? But when I was trying to find you, I thought about it some more. And Doctor Montgomery is cool. You deserve to be happy. You've been really great to me lately. Besides, it pisses off Doctor Sloan, and he's a total jerk, so that's an added bonus."

Alex shook his head. "Look, Izzie. It's not like that. Were not dating or anything. We still argue all the time. The woman still hates me. It's just that now sometimes after she yells at me, she drags me into a closet and sticks her tongue down my throat. And I doubt that's even going to happen anymore now that both Sloan and Shepherd know."

"How did Dr. Shepherd find out anyway?" Izzie asked.

Alex refused to meet Izzie's eyes. "I told him."

Izzie gapped at him, "Why would you do that?"

Alex sighed, "I don't want to talk about it."

Izzie crossed her arms over her chest, "Come on, Alex. If you don't give me any details, I might have to try to get them from Doctor Sloan, and who knows what I might accidentally let slip about you?"

"Fine," Alex said abruptly. "I saw him by the Nurses' Station earlier, yelling at Addison. She went off in tears, and he didn't even care. Meredith comes up two seconds later and he's got his arm around and is whispering in her ear." Alex shrugged, "So, I decided to whisper something in his ear. I told him his wife tastes like cinnamon."

Izzie burst out laughing. "Oh, wow. Alex, that's...that's perfect. Wow. I guess that's why he was so upset earlier. And why she was too."

"Yeah."

Izzie was silent for a while. "Of course, you know what that means, right?"

"What?" Alex asked.

"It means you don't hate her. It means it's not just making out in closets. Derek hurt her, so you hurt him. And I'm guessing when you took off from the cafeteria it was to go after her again. Because I told you I had seen her crying again."

Alex got to his feet, and started to pace. "I don't her Izzie. I don't feel anything for her. It's just a fling."

Izzie continued to smile, "Sure it is."

Alex turned to glare at her. "I'm serious, Izzie. I don't have feelings for her, alright?"

Izzie held up her hands in surrender at Alex's angry tone.

"Alex, it's not a bad thing if you like her."

"Just leave it alone Izzie." With that, Alex turned and stormed out of the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Derek turned to Meredith, "Maybe it'd be better if you left."

Meredith shook her head, looking between Derek and Addison. "I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me what's going on."

Derek sighed, "I told you, she's sleeping with Karev."

"I'm not sleeping with him!" Addison insisted.

"You still haven't told me why you care," Meredith said. "And I'm not leaving until you do."

"What do you mean you're not sleeping with him?" Derek turned to Addison, ignoring Meredith's request for an explanation.

Addison rolled her eyes. "Not that it's any of your business, but no. I'm not. I've kissed him a few times. In supply closets. That's it. But it I wanted to sleep with Alex, I would. And you have absolutely no say in the matter, understand?"

"I understand that you're doing this to piss me off. Let me guess, I'm sleeping with an intern, so you have to be with one too?"

"Derek!" Meredith and Addison exclaimed simultaneously.

"Sleeping with an intern? Is that all I am now? The intern you're sleeping with?" Meredith asked, anger and hurt both evident on her face.

Derek ran a hand through his hair. "No. Meredith, of course not. I didn't mean it like that. I just..."

"You just what?" Meredith interrupted. "You're just too obsessed with your the wife you've left to have concern for the me, the woman you claim to love."

"Meredith," Derek began, but Meredith was already halfway down the hallway.

"Go to hell, Derek."

"Meredith!" He called again, but she didn't even turn around.

"Wow, Derek. That was really nicely handled."

"Addison, please."

Addison shook her head sadly, "You've got to stop this Derek. It's insane. You do realize that right, I mean, you realize that you've completely lost it."

Derek refused to look her in the eyes.

"Derek."

Finally he met her eyes, and nodded, "Yeah, I know that. But I can't help it. I think of you being with him, and it just drives me insane."

Addison sighed and rubbed her temples. "I could understand this if it were Mark. But it's not. Yes, I did sleep with Mark after I found out about you and Meredith at the prom. But I stopped things with him. I realized I couldn't be with him. Not when he was such a factor in the end of our marriage, and especially not when all three of us are in Seattle. But Doctor Karev isn't Mark."

Anger once again flashed in Derek's eyes, "But he is. Don't you see that? He's exactly like Mark was when he was younger. Do you remember him when we were interns? Cocky, brash, oversexed, fighting authority? That's exactly how Karev is now. And Mark only got worse over the years."

"He was your best friend, Derek. You must have seen something good in him."

"Yeah, and then he went and slept with my wife."

"Derek..."

"No!" Derek practically shouted. "He's going to hurt you. Karev is going to hurt you. Because he's just like Mark. And that's what guys like him do. They hurt people. They only care about themselves, and they hurt people."

Addison looked at Derek, tears gleaming in her eyes. "You hurt me. You hurt me more than anyone ever has, Derek. And I'm not just talking about leaving me for Meredith. We loved each other more fiercely than I've ever loved anyone Derek. But we both hurt each other so much."

"What happened to us, Addy?" Derek asked softly.

Addison bit her lip, "I don't know, Derek. We grew apart. And I guess we started hurting each other because we just wanted to feel something. And you were gone more and more. And Mark was there. And he told me that he loved me. I wanted so badly to feel loved." Addison was crying, right in the middle of the hallway, she had tears streaming down her face. "I think some stupid part of me wanted to get caught. Because it'd force us to confront our problems. A one-night stand would force us to try to fix things."

Derek nodded, tears threatening to spill from his own eyes, "And instead of doing that, I just ran away."

"I can't really blame you for that."

"Yes, you can. You wouldn't have run. You would have tried to fix things.'

Addison was about to say that Derek wouldn't have had the affair in the first place, but prom night had proved that might not be entirely true.

Derek let out a long sigh, "It's still hard to believe that this is really over. That we're really over."

Addison nodded, "Yeah. We meet with the lawyers next week."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"Derek, you've moved on with Meredith. And eventually I'm going to be moving on too. This thing with Karev may not be a relationship. I don't think he even particularly likes me as a person. But eventually, I'll be with someone. And I have to know that you aren't going to freak out like this. It isn't fair to me and it isn't fair to Meredith. Hell, it isn't even fair to yourself."

Derek nodded, looking at the floor, "I know that."

"You're going to stop this, right?"

Again, Derek nodded.

"Okay." Addison was about to turn around and leave, when Derek looked up at her again.

He reached out a hand, and gently wiped the tears from her cheek. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. Is that such a bad thing?"

"No," Addison said softly. "No, it's not. But yelling at me, and practically calling me a whore is not the best way to keep me from getting hurt."

Derek chuckled sadly, "No, I guess it's not."

"Anyway, you shouldn't have to worry about Karev much longer."

"Why's that."

A small smile crossed Addison's lips, "Because I'm going to kill him for telling you about our thing and causing all this trouble to begin with.'

"Good."

Addison's pager went off, and she glanced at it.

"I have to go. But you're going to be okay, right? We're going to be okay?"

"We are," Derek said with a smile.

"Good. Now go fix things with Meredith, she seemed pretty upset."

Derek stared at her; surprised at her concern for the woman he had left her for. "You're a pretty incredible woman; you do know that right?"

Addison grinned. "Yes. Yes, I do." With that, she turned around and started down the hallway.

Derek looked around for a moment, then headed off in the direction Meredith had gone earlier. He had no idea where she'd have gone. He was walking by one of the lounges when he heard a voice he recognized as Doctor Steven's coming from inside. Figuring there was a good chance Meredith was with her, he was about to open the door. Then he heard a male voice and paused. It was Karev, he was sure of it. He stood the side, listening.

"What?"

"It means you don't hate her. It means it's not just making out in closets. Derek hurt her, so you hurt him. And I'm guessing when you took off from the cafeteria it was to go after her again. Because I told you I had seen her crying again."

"I don't like her Izzie. I don't feel anything for her. It's just a fling."

"Sure it is."

"I'm serious, Izzie. I don't have feelings for her, alright?"

"Alex, it's not a bad thing if you like her."

"Just leave it alone Izzie."

Alex slammed the door open so fast, that it almost hit Derek. Luckily it also meant that Alex didn't see him standing there.

As he watched Alex stalk away, anger filled him once again. Despite his claims to the contrary-or perhaps because of them-Derek could tell that Alex actually was interested in starting a relationship with Addison. Of course, with men like Mark and Alex, those feeling never lasted wrong, Derek knew. And that would leave Addison hurt. Again. He couldn't let that happen.

He'd find Meredith. He'd make apologize and try to make things right. But after that? He was going to make damned sure that Alex Karev stayed the hell away from his wife.


	8. Cinnamon Chapter 8

Addison was exhausted. The day before hadn't exactly been the least stressful of her life. She wanted nothing more than to go back to her hotel room and curl up in bed. Instead, she had a rather intense surgery to prepare for.

At least she had Doctor Stevens as her intern today. Addison didn't want to even see Alex, much less work with him all day. She knew that all she'd do when she saw him was yell. And she'd had enough yelling yesterday.

Still, at the day had ended on a rather positive note. She felt like she had finally gotten through to Derek. As sad as she was that their marriage was over, it made it worse when Derek started acting jealous. It caused too many mixed feelings. It made some part of her hope that things could be fixed, even when she knew they couldn't be.

She could deal with being friends with Derek. She wanted to be friends with Derek. After all, they had been married for eleven years. At one point he had been her best friend. But romantically, she needed a clean break from him. And now it seemed like Derek understood that.

Addison stifled a yawn, as she looked over her patient's file.

"Coffee?"

Addison sighed as she heard the familiar voice, and turned around.

"Hello, Mark." She took the coffee he held out to her.

"You look like hell."

Addison rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Mark. You know just how to make a woman feel good."

Mark smiled mischievously, "As I recall, I do know just how to make you feel good. There's always the beds in the on-call room if you need a reminder."

"Mark," Addison said warningly.

Mark's expression grew more somber, "Seriously, Addison. You look exhausted. Bad night?"

"Last night was fine. The day that preceded it, however..."

"Really?" Mark asked. "What happened?"

Addison snorted. "Like you don't know. I'm sure the gossip mill has already spread the news to the farthest corners of the hospital."

Mark held out a hand in surrender, "Okay, okay. So I might have heard a few things. Our boy really has it in for Karev, huh?"

Addison shook her head, "He did at first. But after he stopped screaming at me, and actually started to talk, I managed to get him to calm down."

Mark raised his eyebrow, "Really?"

Addison didn't like his doubtful tone. "Yes, really. We actually had a mature discussion about it. Derek's going to focus on Meredith, and stay away from my romantic life." She narrowed her eyes, "Anyway, I'm surprised you don't have more of a problem his this."

"With you having sex with Karev?"

Addison slapped his arm, "We're not having sex. And as far as I'm concerned, we're not doing anything anymore. I had the day from hell yesterday, due to him and his big mouth."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Good," Mark repeated. He grinned broadly.

Addison crossed her arms over her chest. "You do realize that no matter what I am or am not doing with Alex, I don't plan on sleeping with you, right?"

Mark shrugged, "You've said that before."

"I mean it, Mark. We're not going to get together again. There are plenty of beautiful women in Seattle. Hell, there are plenty of beautiful women in this hospital. Women whose marriages you didn't help ruin. Women who you actually have a chance with."

Mark smirked, "Yeah. I know that. But you're the woman I want."

Addison chuckled and shook her head. She flipped the file she was holding closed and headed toward the elevator. "Goodbye, Mark."

Addison was in the elevator, studying her patient's file intently. She paid no attention when the doors slid open and another person got on. But then she heard her name.

"Doctor Montgomery."

Addison closed her eyes in frustration for a brief moment, before looking up to see her companion.

"Doctor Karev."

"Look," Alex began.

Addison cut him off, "No."

"No?"

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want any apologies. I don't want any excuses. You severally screwed up my day yesterday. You caused me personal pain. And given how fast gossip travels in this hospital, you also caused me professional embarrassment. By now, half of the hospital probably thinks that I'm sleeping with an intern. Bad enough when I was the woman who got dumped by her husband for a slutty intern. Now I've the woman who is sleeping with a slutty intern of her very own."

"Well, I'm sorry your precious reputation took a hit," Alex snapped.

Addison went red with anger. "I'm angry that you felt the need to publicize our liaisons by rubbing them in my husband's face."

"Oh, so you're back to calling him your husband now?"

Addison chose to ignore that comment. "I just want to know why you did it Alex. What the hell possessed you to tell Derek that I taste like cinnamon?"

Alex shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know," he finally admitted.

Addison scoffed, "Well, that's just great. You screw up my life and you don't even have a reason for it. Perfect."

"Maybe I did just want to rub his face in it," Alex said angrily. "He's a smug jack-ass. He's always treating me like crap. Maybe I just wanted to bring him down a peg by letting him think I was screwing his wife."

"You're a pig," Addison spat.

"Yeah," Alex said. "That's right. I'm a pig. But you're the one making out with the pig in supply closets. So what does that say about you?"

Before Addison could even think of a response, the elevator stopped on her floor. The doors opened and Addison stepped out, almost running into Izzie, who was moving to step inside.

"Doctor Stevens," Addison said in a clipped tone. "We have surgery this afternoon. I expect to see you as soon as you're finished with rounds."

Izzie nodded, visibly surprised by Addison's harsh tone. "Yes, Doctor Montgomery. I'll be there." She stepped into the elevator, and Addison saw her shoot Alex a confused look before the doors slid closed.

Addison let out a sigh. It looked like today wasn't going to be any better than yesterday."

\---------

Once the elevator doors closed, Izzie turned to face Alex. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Alex said through gritted teeth.

Izzie hesitated for a moment, then reached out and hit the emergency stop button on the elevator key panel.

"Izzie, I said I don't want to talk about it."

Izzie crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Alex with a determined expression on her face. "I don't care if you want to talk about it or not. Addison looked pissed as hell. And I'm going to be working with her all day, so I want to know what's going on."

Alex sighed, giving up. "We had a fight."

"Obviously," Izzie said. "But what was it about?"

"Me telling Derek that she tastes like cinnamon."

"She was pissed?"

"Monumentally."

Izzie laid a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder. He leaned against the wall of the elevator and slide slowly to the floor.

"She wanted to know why I told him."

"And you told her it's because you wanted to hurt him for hurting her, right?" Izzie asked hopefully, joining Alex on the floor.

Alex sighed, "Not exactly."

"Alex..."

"I told her that I did it because he's always treating me like crap and I wanted to shut him up."

Izzie looked at him sadly, "Oh, Alex...You should have told her. You should have told you that you did it because you have feelings for her."

Alex looked at her angrily, "I don't, Izzie."

Izzie just looked at him and shook her head.

Alex stared at her for a long moment, before sighing again and hanging his head.

"Crap," Alex said. "I do, don't I?"

"Sure seems that way."

"And now she hates me more than ever."

Izzie's face brightened suddenly and she jumped to her feet.

"What is it," Alex asked.

Izzie offered Alex a hand, and helped pull him to his feet.

"I have a plan," she announced simply.

Alex groaned. "Why does that strike me as a bad thing?"

"No," Izzie insisted. "It's a good plan. I'm working with her all day on this surgery, right? So I'll talk to her. I'll convince her that you aren't the jackass that she thinks you are. Since you apparently can't talk to her without shoving your foot in your mouth. And I know that you're too embarrassed to try to fix things yourself. So, I'll do it."

"Izzie," Alex explained, "Even before the cinnamon thing, she didn't like me. It was just a fling for her. She might stopped being pissed at me, but you talking about what a good guy I am isn't going to cause her to suddenly fall in love with me."

Izzie ignored his protests completely. "No," she said simply. "It's a good plan."


	9. Chapter 9

\---------

Izzie liked having a plan. Having a plan meant she had something to follow, something to focus on. And Izzie needed something to focus on. It was getting easier for her to come to the hospital everyday, but often her thoughts still turned to Denny. But now she had a goal.

Sure, that goal was a little strange. It was weird setting up the guy she used to date with another woman, especially a woman who was her superior. But in an odd way, it felt right. She knew that she had hurt Alex a lot after Denny came along. And while he had hurt her as well, he had really taken care of her when Denny died. He had been so sweet and so kind. He had been a real friend.

And now it was her chance to be a friend to him. He obviously really liked Doctor Montgomery. And the fact that he had finally broken down and admitted it made Izzie think that he must like her a lot.

The first part of Izzie's plan was so simple it could hardly even be referred to as a plan. She'd just talk to Doctor Montgomery. Try to get her to see what a great guy Alex could be. She'd probably just end up pissing Addison off, but she could deal with that. After all, the point of part one of the plan was to lay the groundwork for part two. Part two was much more difficult, and could actually get her in some trouble if things didn't end up working out. But Izzie was confident that it would work out in the end.

It was a good plan.

"Doctor Stevens!"

Izzie groaned as Mark Sloan fell into step beside her.

"Are you here to grill me about one of my friends again? Because I told you last time, I'm not giving you information on Alex's personally life."

Mark shook his head, "I just don't get why you're so intent on defending the guy. I mean, I've heard all the rumors about what happened between the two of you. And I've worked with him since coming here. He's a cocky jerk."

"Kind of like you?" Izzie shot back. "I defend Alex because he's a good guy. Did you ever stop and think that maybe Doctor Montgomery deserves a good guy. She hasn't exactly has it easy since she came here. Watching her marriage fall apart, watching her husband pine after another woman? She deserves a good guy."

"What makes you think I'm not a good guy?" Mark asked, with a mock offended tone.

Izzie just laughed, "And you've slept with or tried to sleep with how many women since you've come to work here? Since you've claimed that you love Doctor Montgomery?"

"Is this how you always talk to your superiors?" Mark asked with a smirk.

Izzie rolled her eyes, "If you were talking to me about something hospital related that be different. But when you start questioning me about my friends and trying to interfere with their love lives, you lose the right to be treated with respect. Seriously, you're acting like a total jerk. And Doctor Montgomery is letting me in on a really good surgery this afternoon. I'm not going to be late because your ego has been bruised by Doctor Montgomery moving on." With that Izzie sped up, hoping that Sloan wouldn't follow her.

He didn't, but Izzie did hear him call after her, "You're wrong, Stevens. I am a good guy. I'll prove it."

Izzie didn't even bother to look back. She just shook her head and continued on her way.

\---------------

Christina walked the hallway looking for one of her fellow interns, any of her fellow interns. There was practically a skip in her step. She had the hottest gossip ever, and she wanted to be the first ones to tell her friends. This was great. It was better than great. This was amazing. This was the best gossip since Meredith slept with McDreamy on prom night. Normally Christina didn't like dealing with the nurses, but they did manage to hear the best stuff. And this was a real dozy. It was, of course, made all the better by the fact that it meant she was right. Christina loved being right.

"George!" Christina exclaimed as she saw him coming out of a patient's room.

"Christina? What, what are you doing?" George asked, confused as he was pulled into a nearby empty room.

"I was right!" Christina said triumphantly.

"Okay," George said slowly, giving her an odd look. "Do you want to tell me what you were right about?"

"Alex and Addison."

"Wh-what? No way."

"Yes," Christina nodded vigorously. "Everybody is talking about it. Apparently Alex and Derek were yelling at each other earlier. And after that? Yeah, Meredith, and both Doctor Shepherds had a fight in the hallway. Alex and Montgomery have apparently been making-out in supply closets and the on-call rooms."

George just looked at her, horrified. "Ew. Ew. I don't want to know that."

Christina just rolled her eyes, "You are no fun."

"Me? I'm no fun? Seriously, Christina, you're the most serious person I know."

"I'm having fun now. I'm having fun with this."

"That's because you're disgusting," George said simply.

"That's it. I'm going to find someone else to tell, someone who will appreciate it."

"You do that."

As Christina was about to leave, George thought of something.

"Hey, why would Doctor Shepherd yell at Alex about Alex making-out with Doctor Montgomery."

Christina shrugged, "How should I know. Maybe he hasn't completely gotten over her or something."

George stared at her, "Then I don't think you should be so gleeful when you talk to Meredith about this. If she was involved with a fight between her boyfriend and his wife..."

Christina nodded, "Yeah, it might be a sore topic, huh?"

"Just maybe."

"Crap."

\------------

Derek let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn't gotten much sleep. He had spent most of the night trying to reassure Meredith that he didn't want to get back together with Addison.

It hadn't been easy. They had worked things out in the end, but Derek was still frustrated, and knew that Meredith was too. He understood why Meredith was upset, he really did. But it still annoyed him. He had been married to Addison for eleven years, and had been friends with her for almost fifteen. How could he just turn off all of those feelings? He may not be in love with Addison anymore, but despite everything he still wanted her to be happy. He still wanted to protect her. And Alex was someone she needed protection from.

"Derek."

Derek sighed when he heard an all too familiar voice behind him. "Why do you want Mark?" he asked as he turned around.

"We have the same goal," Mark said with a grin.

"Somehow I doubt that," Derek retorted. He started to walk away, but Mark came after him.

"No, we do. We both want Alex Karev to stay the hell away from Addison."

Derek glared at him. "Don't talk to me about Addison, Mark. I'm really not in the mood."

"But it's true isn't it? You want Karev to keep his hands off your wife."

"I wanted you to keep your hands off my wife too, but that didn't happen."

Mark held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay. But I'm going to try to keep him away from her. If you don't want to help..."

"Why should I help get Alex away from her just to clear a spot for you."

Mark grinned, "You could deal with one problem at a time. Help me with Alex, then when he's gone you can try to keep me away from her. After all, who's the bigger threat at this moment? Me? Or the one she's been in supply closets with for the past month?"

"Goodbye, Mark." Derek said simply.

Mark stopped following him. He knew Derek well. He might not be willing to team up now, but the idea would stay with him. And eventually he'd come to Mark for help.


	10. Chapter 10

\------------

Addison tried to smile when she saw Izzie approaching her. She wasn't exactly in a good mood after the fight with Alex in the elevator, but she didn't want to take it out on her intern. Addison rather liked the young blonde doctor. She had a lot of potential, despite the disaster with her heart patient. Anyway, Izzie didn't deserve to face the wrath when Addison really wanted to release it on Alex.

"Are you ready, Doctor Stevens?"

Izzie smiled broadly and nodded cheerfully. "Yes, totally ready. And I just wanted to thank you again, Doctor Montgomery. This is the first really big procedure I've been in one since getting back. I'm really grateful."

"I'm glad to hear that." Addison's smile was genuine this time. "I'm happy to have you back in my services again. You've showed a lot of potential in the field."

"Alex was telling me how lucky I am," Izzie began. She ignored the look on Addison's face at the mention of Alex's name, and continued. "I know that he complained a lot, and he'd never say it to your face, but he totally misses working for you. He still says that he's all about plastics, but I don't think that's true. Working with you had a huge impact on him."

Addison bit back a harsh reply, and simply shook her head. "Somehow I doubt that."

Izzie shrugged, "Seriously, we were talking the other day and--"

"Why don't we go see Mrs. Cregg?" Addison said, cutting Izzie off. "I want to go through the surgery with her one more time, then I'll have you do prep."

Izzie nodded in agreement, and kept quiet. After all, she had all day with Doctor Montgomery. There was no need to push things, not yet.

\----------

George nudged Christina with his elbow.

"She's over there," he said pointing.

Christina followed his gaze and sighed.

"She's just staring," she said. "She's just sitting there and staring at nothing."

"Let's go over," George suggested.

"Are you sure? Maybe she just wants to be left alone."

"You want us to just leave her there? Staring?" George headed over to the lunch table.

Christina rolled her eyes and headed after him.

"Meredith?" George asked when he reached the table, "Are you okay?"

Meredith blinked in surprise to see George standing in front of her. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed him approach.

"I told him you probably wanted to be alone," Christina interjected as she set her lunch tray down. "So, are you? Okay, I mean."

"I'm fine," Meredith insisted. "Why wouldn't I be fine?"

George and Christina exchanged looks.

"Well," George started. "We just thought that with what happened yesterday..." he trailed off.

"It's just that everybody is talking about the McDreamy/Alex/Doctor Montgomery thing. And you didn't even tell any of us about it."

Meredith wrinkled her nose. "I spent most of last night talking about it with Derek. By the time he left I didn't really feel like talking to anybody."

"So, what happened exactly?" Christina asked.

"Derek was yelling at Alex about sleeping with Addison and I overheard. And then Derek and I started fighting, and Addison came along. It was a mess."

George looked confused, "I just don't get why Doctor Shepherd was yelling at Alex in the first place. He and Montgomery are in the middle of getting a divorce.

"That's why I was fighting with Derek," Meredith said simply. "Basically, he said that Alex was just like Doctor Sloan, and he didn't want him sleeping with his wife."

"He called Doctor Montgomery his wife?" George exclaimed.

"Yeah."

"Well," Christina said, "Technically she still is. I mean, they haven't actually signed all the divorce papers yet."

"Christina!" George admonished.

Meredith put her head down on the table, "I'm still a dirty mistress," she mumbled.

"What?" Christina asked.

Meredith lifted her head back up. "I'm still a dirty mistress. He chose me. He told me he loved me, he chose me. And I chose him. But I'm still a dirty mistress."

"Do you really think he's still hung up on his wife?" Christina asked.

"He tried to explain it to me last night. He said that he's always going to care about her because she was such a big part of his life for so long. And he said despite all the problems they had, he doesn't want her to get hurt. He wants to protect her. And part of me gets that.

I'm trying to be the understanding girlfriend, I really am. But it'd be one thing if he had just pulled her aside and told her he was concerned. But when he found out, his reaction wasn't concern. He's reaction was anger. He reacted the way a guy reacts when his wife cheats on him. How am I supposed to understand that?"

A tray slammed down on the table and all three of the interns jumped. They looked to see Alex, who grabbed a chair and took a seat without saying a word.

They stared at him for a moment, and he ignored them.

"Alex," Meredith began.

"We're not talking about it," Alex said firmly, cutting her off.

"But-"

"We're not talking about it," he repeated.

The other three exchanged looks.

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Alex gave them one more glare, as if to make sure none of them would say anything, before returning to his food.

The rest of the meal passed in silence.

\----------

Izzie stifled a yawn. The surgery with Doctor Montgomery had taken nearly nine hours. She was tired, and ready to go home. But she still had work to do. It was time to put part two of her plan into action.

Part one of the plan hadn't gone as smoothly as she would have liked. She brought up Alex as often as she could. But eventually Doctor Montgomery had snapped at her, even threatening to kick her off the surgery, so she had to back off.

Hopefully part two would be better.

\----------

Alex stood, waiting impatiently. He didn't know why Izzie had paged him in the first place, but the fact that she had paged him to the hospital roof was even more confusing, especially since he had been waiting for ten minutes and she hadn't even shown up yet.

\-----------

Addison glanced at her pager as it went off. Her squinted at, making sure she was reading it correctly. Why did Doctor Stevens need to talk to her so badly? And why did she want to meet on the roof of all places?

\-----------

Alex was staring off the edge of the roof, deciding just how much longer he should wait for Izzie.

Finally he heard the door to the staircase open.

"Well, it's about time. What took you so-" Alex began as he turned around. But he stopped talking when he saw Addison standing by the door, looking both confused and angry.

"What are you doing here?"

"Doctor Stevens paged me," Addison said abruptly. "What are you doing here?"

Alex groaned, realization setting in. "Izzie paged me, too."

"What? Why would she do that?"

"Because she's insane," Alex said as he headed toward the door. He pulled on the handle, and groaned again. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What now?" Addison asked.

"She locked the damned door."

Addison's face flushed with anger. She quickly walked over and began pounding on the door. There was no response.

"Has she gone completely insane? What is she playing at?" Addison asked. "I'm calling someone to come get us." She reached for her pocket then stopped. "Damn. My cell is in my purse. Please tell me you have yours?"

"Yeah," Alex said as he reached into his pocket. But instead of a cell phone, his hand grabbed a folded piece of paper.

He unfolded it, and cursed.

"What does it say?"

Alex read it aloud, "Alex, I took your cell. Don't worry you'll get it back. You and Doctor Montgomery need to talk, but I know you're too damned stubborn to do anything about it on your own. So I'm taking action. You're both off-duty, but if an emergency comes up I'll get you immediately. Failing that, I'll see you in the morning. Izzie."

"You have got to be kidding me."


	11. Chapter 11

"She's lost her mind. She's actually lost her mind."

Addison pounded on the door one last time before turning to face Alex once more.

"This is some sort of joke, right? Tell me that I'm not actually going to be stuck on this roof all night. With you."

Alex shook his head, "Izzie doesn't really go for practical jokes. You might as well try to make yourself comfortable, because we're going to be here for a while.

Addison let out an exasperated sigh, "I can't fucking believe this. First she spends all day talking about how great you are, and now she locks us on the roof together. What the hell is going on with her?"

"Great plan, Izzie." Alex muttered under his breath, sarcastically.

Unfortunately, he didn't say it quietly enough.

"Plan?" Addison questioned, anger evident in her voice. "What do you mean, plan?"

"Nothing," Alex said immediately.

"No, that was something. Did you have something to do with this Alex? Was this some sick idea of yours?"

"What? No!"

"Give me the note."

"What?"

Addison held out her hand. "Give me the note, I want to read it."

Alex held it back; "I already read it to you."

"Just give it to me!"

Alex hesitated, but finally handed it over.

After reading the note, Addison shot Alex a questioning look, "What's this?"

"What's what?" Alex asked.

Addison crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't play dumb with me, Karev." She pointed at the bottom of the slip of paper. "This, right here. 'P.S. Tell her how you feel.' What did Izzie mean by that?"

Alex shrugged, "How the hell should I know. It's like you said, she's crazy."

"Bullshit. You know what she meant, that's why you didn't want me to see the note myself." By this point Addison was yelling, "So tell me what the hell is going on! You're the reason I'm going to be stuck on this roof all damned night, and I want to know why!"

"I told you, I don't know," Alex maintained.

"Tell me!"

"I'm falling in love with you!" Alex shouted.

Addison just stared at him, all the anger on her face turning to shock.

"What did you just say?"

Alex turned his back on her, not able to look in her the eye. "I'm falling in love with you. Izzie knows. That's why she did this. She's got it in her head to play match-maker."

Addison took a hesitant step toward him, and then stopped.

"But...On the elevator...you said..."

Alex turned back to face her. "I know what I said. I was lying. Couldn't tell you. I didn't Doctor Shepherd about this because he treated me badly. I did it because he hurt you. He hurt you, and it made me so angry that I had to hurt him back." Alex shook his head. "That's when I realized that this wasn't just about making-out in on-call rooms, not for me."

Addison didn't know what to say. She just looked at him, amazed to hear him being so honest, so vulnerable.

Alex interpreted her silence differently.

"But obviously you don't feel the same way, so why don't we just pretend this little conversation never happened. I'll take that side of the roof," he motioned with his head, "And you can have this side. You won't even have to look at me."

He turned and started to walk away, but paused when he felt Addison's hand on her shoulder. He turned back to face her, and was astonished to see her blinking back tears.

She didn't say anything. She just leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

It was different than any of the other kisses that they shared. Those kisses had all been fueled by anger. They were hot, and passionate. But they couldn't compare to this kiss. It was soft, sweet, and tender. It was amazing.

When they broke apart, they looked at each other for a long moment. Alex reached up and brushed a tear off of Addison's cheek.

"So, Doctor Montgomery. Where does this leave us?"

Addison grinned, "You know, I think it's about time you started to call me by my first name."

"Addison," Alex whispered.

"I like the way you say that...Alex."

They smiled at each other nervously. Simultaneously, they realized they were still standing only inches apart. They both moved apart, like awkward teenagers.

"Well," Alex said at last, "If we're going to be here all night, we might as well try to make ourselves comfortable."

Addison laughed, "I don't know how comfortable we're going to be able to make ourselves on a roof-top."

Alex began walking around, looking for something. "I can't believe that Izzie would leave us up here without food or anything. That wouldn't be like her."

They split up and looked around the roof. After a few minutes of searching, Alex let out a triumphant cry. He returned to Addison carrying two full paper bags.

"Let's see what we have," he said.

He set the bags down and began to go through them. "Blankets, that's good. A loaf of bread that looks homemade. A couple of kinds of good cheese. Wine glasses and...wine." He smiled at Addison, "Bread, cheese and wine. Izzie's packed us quite the romantic feast."

Addison was going through the other bag. "We've also got a couple of bottles of water and some freshly baked cookies."

Alex grinned, "Addison Montgomery, will you go out on a date with me?"

Addison laughed, "I think that I will, Alex Karev."

"Good. Close your eyes."

"What?" Addison questioned.

"Just close them, okay?"

Addison sighed, "Fine."

"And no peeking."

"Alright, alright." Addison melodramatically closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands.

She could hear Alex moving around, but wasn't sure what he was up too.

"Can I open them yet?"

"You're a very impatient woman, just give me a minute."

"Fine."

A few moment's later, Alex placed his hands on Addison's shoulders and led her to a different part of the roof. "Okay, open your eyes."

Addison opened her eyes, and gasped.

Alex had spread out the blankets and set up a picnic. The food was spread out and the wine glasses were full. There were even two candles burning brightly in tall candlesticks.

"You didn't tell me she left us candles."

"I thought I'd surprise you."

"Thank you, Alex," she said softly, as she turned and smiled at him.

He smiled back and leaned forward, kissing her softly on the forehead.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand and leading her onto the blanket, "Let's enjoy our first date."


	12. Chapter 12

Addison sat comfortably between Alex's outstretched legs, her back against his chest, his arms wrapped loosely around her.

"That was incredible."

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Izzie may be crazy, but she's also an incredible baker."

"Seriously, I must have had four of those cookies."

"Actually you had six," Alex said with a grin.

"I did not have six cookies!" Addison protested.

"Yes, you did." Alex leaned forward slightly and nuzzled Addison's neck.

She moaned happily. "This was a pretty good first date."

"Damn straight it was," Alex said, continuing to kiss a trail down her neck.

"I guess this means I won't be screaming at Doctor Steven's in the morning after all."

"I guess not."

Addison stared up at the sky, enjoying the feeling of sitting in Alex's embrace. "This is much better than the supply closet."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Alex said.

"What?" Addison asked, feeling slightly hurt.

"In the supply closet you were always kissing me," Alex said with a wicked grin.

Addison smiled and turned to face Alex. "So, you want kissing, do you?"

"Yeah," Alex said softly.

Addison leaned forward, so she was mere inches from Alex's face. "Well, I think that can be arranged."

She kissed him, softly at first, then more passionately as he responded to her. She ran a hand up his back and behind his head, pulling him closer to her.

Alex's hands moved to Addison's shirt, and began to unbutton it, but she drew back, stopping him.

"What wrong?" Alex asked, confused at her sudden change in demeanor. "If I'm moving to fast..."

"No. No. It's not that," Addison assured him. "But if we go much further, I'm not going to be able to stop myself. And we might need..." Addison hesitated. "We'd need protection."

Alex smiled, "Don't worry. Izzie really did provide everything we might need."

"Oh, god." Addison laughed, but could feel herself blushing.

"Hey," Alex said, gently cupping Addison's face in his hands. "If you want to wait, that's fine. I understand."

Addison shook her head. "No, I don't want to wait."

"Okay."

Alex took Addison's hand in his own and kissed her palm, then her wrist, moving slowly up her arm, to her shoulder, and eventually meeting her lips.

Their kissing became more frantic, then broke for a moment while Addison pulled Alex's shirt over his head. They embraced tightly and Alex gently moved them both back until they were lying together on the blanket.

Neither of them even heard the rumbling thunder above them. All they saw was each other. All they felt was each other. They didn't notice the storm until the rain started to fall. And by then, neither of them was in a state to care.

They also didn't hear the door to the roof open. They didn't see a head poke out. And they didn't notice how quickly the door closed again.

\---------

"Were you up on the roof?"

Izzie stopped her descent down the stairs and turned to see Mark looking at her oddly.

"What?"

"Well, we're on the top floor." Mark explained. "And you're coming down the stairs. The only thing up there is the roof. Why were you on the roof."

Izzie shrugged, searching for an explanation. "I was just looking to get a little air," she said eventually. "But it's raining, so I came back down."

From the look on his face, Izzie could tell that Mark didn't believe her, but he didn't push the issue.

"Have you seen Addison?" he asked.

"Nope," Izzie said quickly. "Not since the surgery I had with her this afternoon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm on my way home."

"Why are you here anyway?" Mark asked. "You're not on-call tonight."

This time it was Izzie who looked at Mark oddly, "How do you know that?"

"I asked around," Mark said simply.

"You asked about me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Mark lazily crossed his arms over his chest. "I've been asking about you a lot. I wanted to know more about the woman who is so intent on destroying my romantic life."

Izzie rolled her eyes, "Doctor Sloan, I'm not intent on destroying your romantic life."

"But you refuse to tell me anything about Alex that could help me get back with Addison."

"That's because Alex is my friend. And you," she said, poking Mark in the chest, "are not my friend. So choosing my loyalty here was pretty easy. Besides, you're a jerk. I'm not going to feel bad about not letting you hurt Alex."

"I'm not a jerk," Mark protested.

"You really are."

"Let me prove that I'm not."

Izzie shook her head, "I really don't care that much. I just want to go home and sleep."

"No," Mark insisted. "I'll make a deal with you."

"What kind of deal?" Izzie asked suspiciously.

"You come have drinks with me."

"That sounds more like a date than an deal." Izzie started back down the stairs.

Mark sighed and hurried after her.

"You didn't let me finish. "You come have drinks with me. If you still think I'm a jerk at the end of the night, I'll never bother you again. But if I convince you that I'm a nice guy-"

Izzie cut him off, "No matter how nice of a guy you convince me that you are, I'm still not giving you any sort of dirt on Alex."

Mark held up his hands in surrender, "That's fine. That wasn't what I was going to say."

"Then what is the deal?" Izzie asked, impatient.

"I convince you that I'm not just a jerk, you tell me what you were doing on the roof."

"I already told you what you were doing on the roof."

Mark smirked, "Yeah, but you lied."

Izzie stopped walking and turned to studying Mark's face. After a long moment, she finally nodded abruptly. "Fine."

"Good. Meet me at Joe's in an forty minutes."

"Why not right now?" Izzie asked.

"Because you're going out for drinks with a very handsome doctor. I figured I'd give you a chance to change out of your work clothes."

Izzie was about to protest, but Mark cut her off. "This is my floor," he said, motioning toward the door. "I'll see you soon."

He winked at her, then opened the door, leaving Izzie alone in the staircase, wondering just what the hell she had just gotten herself into.


	13. Chapter 13

All Izzie could think when she walked into the bar, was that she was making a huge mistake. She wasn't entirely sure why she had agreed to come to Joe's with McSteamy. She knew that it wouldn't be an enjoyable night. Dr. Sloan was far to slick and far to cocky to appeal to Izzie. Sure, he was very good-looking, but he was not a good guy. Izzie was sure of that. Of course, that meant that after tonight, Sloan would never bother her again. Assuming that he kept up his part of the bargain. Plus, it kept him from heading to the roof, since he seemed so interested in what she had been doing there.

As soon as Izzie had heard the thunder, she began to worry about her plan. When the storm finally broke, she had hurried up to the roof, sure that she would find a pissed-off Alex and Dr. Montgomery waiting for her. Instead she had been pleasantly surprised-and a little embarrassed-to find that they were too busy to even notice the rain. And they certainly didn't notice Izzie's presence. So, she had quietly and quickly left, leaving the door propped open behind her. They might be happily preoccupied right now, but eventually the rain and the cold would get to them. There was no way Izzie could leave them up on the roof all night like that. Besides, her plan had worked, so there was no need to keep them up there any longer.

Izzie looked around the place, and saw Sloan standing at the bar, talking with Joe. Joe pointed in her direction and Sloan turned and met her gaze, grinning at her. Izzie took a deep breath and headed over.

"You didn't dress up," Mark observed.

Izzie had decided she wouldn't give the plastic surgeon the satisfaction of getting dressed-up for him. Instead she was wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. She hadn't bothered with make-up, and her hair was tied back in a simple ponytail.

Izzie glared at Dr. Sloan. She hadn't come her to be insulted. And if this was how he started the night, Izzie was even more doubtful of his claim to be a good guy. With a shake of her head, Izzie turned around and headed back to the door. She wasn't going to put up with this.

She had only gotten a few steps away when Mark caught up with her. He placed a hand on her shoulder to halt her process.

"Dr. Stevens, I was joking. I'm sorry. You actually look fantastic. The casual thing suits you."

Izzie turned to study his face, and despite the smirk, he actually seemed sincere.

"Come on," Mark said, "Let's find a table, and I'll buy you a drink."

Izzie studied him moment longer before nodding in agreement. "Fine," she said. She pointed at a table in the corner, "I'll be over there. Get me a Long Island iced tea."

Without waiting for Mark's response, she headed for the table she had pointed to and sat down.

A few minutes later, Mark appeared with their drinks and slide into the seat across from Izzie.

"Thank you, Dr. Sloan."

"I think as long as we're out having drinks, you can call me Mark."

Izzie wrinkled her nose. She didn't really want to be on familiar terms with him, but she'd play along for now. "Fine. Thank you, Mark. So, where's your proof that you're really a nice guy?"

Mark grinned, "You cut straight to the point, don't you?"

Izzie shrugged, "Well, I'm not here for fun."

Mark sighed dramatically. "You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?"

"I hadn't planned on it."

Mark smiled at her cold tone. He liked a challenge. "So, what kind of proof do you want?"

"You're the one who said you could show me you were a good guy. Didn't you have some sort of plan?"

"Actually, me plan was to win you over with me charm," Mark said with a wicked grin. "But you're not cooperating as much as I had hoped."

Izzie rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just tell me about yourself then. Tell me what it is that makes you a good guy."

"What do you want to know?" Mark asked.

Izzie had a question ready immediately. "What kind of 'good guy' sleeps with his best friend's wife?"

Mark was slightly taken aback by her directness, though he realized that he shouldn't be. Izzie had proved herself to be blunt with him in the past.

"Well, are you going to answer the question, or not?"

Izzie had noticed the smirk on Mark's face falter when she asked the question, and wondered if she was finally going to get something more than superficial out of him.

"If you don't want to answer, that's fine. But I'm going to get up and walk out of here."

"Fine," Mark said when she was about to stand up. He put a hand on hers to get her to stay. "I'll tell you."

Izzie sat back in her chair, pulling her hand away from his, and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Start talking, Mark."

Mark held up a hand to quiet her. "Now, there is one condition. If I'm going to tell you this, I want to tell you the whole story. Without interruption. No stopping me halfway through to tell me I'm scum. You can comment after I tell you the whole thing."

"Okay," Izzie agreed after a moment's thought.

Mark took a deep breath, and began to tell his story.

\-----------

"That was..."

"Incredible?" Alex suggested when Addison's voice trailed off.

The two were lying side by side on the blanket, staring up at the sky. Addison's head rested on Alex's outstretched arm. His other arm rested gently on Addison's stomach.

"Yeah," Addison said quietly. "Incredible would probably be the word."

"We should have done this a lot sooner," Alex said with a laugh.

"No."

"No?"

"No," Addison repeated. "I'm glad it happened like this. This was perfect."

They were both soaked to the bone from the brief, but powerful, rainstorm. Addison sat up, shivering slightly. Alex sat up with her, and put his arms around her, trying to warm her up.

"Are you cold?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.

"A little," Addison said, her teeth chattering.

For the first time, Alex noticed a beam of light falling on the roof. His eyes followed it and realized that the door was slightly ajar.

"Hey," he said, pointing. "The doors open."

"When did that happen?" Addison asked, confused.

An idea dawned on Alex, "Izzie. She must have come up when the storm started."

"Oh, god." Addison groaned, "That means she came up while we were..." She trailed off again.

"Yeah," Alex said.

"We should go," Addison said after a moment.

Alex looked at her in disappointment, "Are you sure? I was kind of hoping we could strive for some more perfection."

"Alex," Addison said, his first name still sounding strange on her lips, "I'd love to, but I'm soaked to the skin, and it's cold out here. All I want to do right now is go back to my hotel and take a hot bath." Addison got to her feet.

"Oh. Yeah. That's fine. I understand," Alex said sadly as he watched Addison gather up the remains of their picnic and repack them in one of the bags Izzie had left.

He couldn't help but be upset. Addison seemed to be in a hurry to get off the roof. And away from him, he thought sadly. He should have known it was too good to be true. She had seen so happy lying by his side just a few moments ago. But now she was hurrying around and barely even looking at him. She must be ashamed that Izzie had seen them. Maybe she only wanted to be with him if no one else knew about it.

Addison stopped in the doorway, and Alex stared at her, mesmerized. She looked so beautiful, framed in the light like some sort of angel. Her red hair caught and reflected the light, gleaming like rubies.

"Well?" Addison asked, looking to where Alex remained seated. "Are you coming or not? You have to be freezing too. My room has a Jacuzzi tub. More than big enough for two."

A slow grin spread across Alex's face as he got to his feet. He quickly followed after Addison and ushered her through the door. They walked down the stairway hand in hand.

\----------


	14. Chapter 14

Mark didn't particularly want to be telling this story. Normally, when he was sitting across the table from a hot blonde, he would just pour on the charm. But Izzie wanted honesty. Mark wasn't big on opening up to people. But he thought that maybe if he could get Izzie on his side, he'd have a better shot at getting Addison back. So, he took a deep breath, and began to talk.

"Derek and I were best friends since we were kids. Hell, I was practically part of his family. We were competitive as hell, though. I mean, in everything. School, sports, women. But at the end of the day, we always had each other's back.

"We both fell for Addison when we met her. Damn, the moment I saw her I fell madly in lust. And I hit on her constantly. She was one of the only women who ever blew me off completely when I tried to seduce her. Of course, that only made me want her more.

"But, while I kept on trying to get her into bed, Derek was falling in love with her. Like I said, we normally competed over women, but when I realized how seriously he liked her, I threw in the towel. It'd have been one thing if he were simply attracted to her. But I could tell that it was more than that. I'd never seen him so messed-up over a girl before.

"And then they started dating. They were pretty much inseparable from the start. And since I was so close to Derek, it meant that I became close to Addison. The three of us even lived together for a while. And that's when I came to know Addison as more than just some girl I would have liked to sleep with. She was stubborn, and fiery, smart and witty. She was fantastic. And I started to fall in love with her."

At this point Izzie was about to interrupt, but remembered her promised and bit her lip. She didn't want Mark to stop. Not now. She really wanted to hear the rest of what he had to say. She was surprised by how straightforward he had been to this point.

"I didn't tell anyone about it. My best friend was in love, and I wasn't going to screw that up. Besides, I knew that Addison was just as in love with Derek as he was with her. I didn't stand a chance. I wasn't going to ruin my friendships with two people in order to get shot down by the woman of my dreams.

"I had never seen love like I saw between Addison and Derek. They were perfect for each other. They weren't that sappy kind of lovey-dovey couple, either. They passionate, they were filled with fire. Their fights could bring down buildings. But no matter what, they always found their way back to each other. I wouldn't have been able to stop it if I tried. So I kept my mouth shut.

"I was even Best Man at their wedding. I stood by and smiled as the love of my life got married to my best friend. And I really was happy for them. As much as it hurt, I was happy for them. Even I could see that they belonged together. I wouldn't have been able to make Addison happy the way Derek could. And they were my friends. I wanted the best for them. And the best meant each other."

Mark paused and took a long drink from his beer. It actually felt good to tell this story. He hadn't told anybody his side of things before. He knew that in everyone's mind, he was cast as the villain. Even if he could get one other person to see things from his perspective it would be good. But the next part of the story would be even harder to tell.

"I watched ten years of happy marriage between them. Things weren't always perfect, but they always worked things out in the end. We all lived in New York. For the last few years I was working in my own practice, but Derek and Addison worked together at the hospital.

"But then after ten years, things started to go wrong. Derek was spending more and more time at work. Addison and I were both feeling ignored and abandoned. Though, of course, I admit Addison had more right to that then I did.

"I actually tried to talk to him about it. But it didn't work. He was barely spending anytime at home. Some nights he even slept at the hospital. And I stood by and watched as Addison slowly died inside. It was like the fire in her died. The more Derek was spending time at work, the more special occasions he forgot or ignored, the more the life drained out of Addison.

"I, of course, was still in love with her. In fact, over the years I had just fallen for her more. I was with a lot of women over the years, but there was never anyone else that I actually felt anything for. And with Derek gone on the time, Addison was spending more time with me. I took advantage of that, I guess. She was so sad and lonely. I wanted to fix that. I wanted the old Addison back. I wanted her to know how much she was loved.

"And then that night happened. That horrible, horrible night, which was the best night of my life. I let myself believe that I wasn't just a substitute for Derek. I let myself believe that she could really love me. That we could really make things work. And then Derek walked in.

"I expected him to be angry. I expected him to hate me. But I never really expected him to just leave. To leave New York. To leave Addison behind. He had broken Addison, but suddenly she was the bad guy. She and I were the evil ones who had betrayed him. And I'm not saying that she and I shouldn't have some of the blame. We certainly do. But Derek had hurt her so much. I just wanted to make her whole again.

"She moved in with me after Derek left. But I knew that she'd rather be with her husband. She was so filled with guilt and so filled with sadness, that we just couldn't make things work. I ended up ruining it, of course. She caught me with another woman. But, I planned it that way. That way she could walk out on my without feeling guilty about it. I thought maybe she's go after Derek and they'd work things out. Because they always work things out. And as much as I still loved Addison, as much as I still love her, I just wanted her to be happy again."

Mark paused and shrugged his shoulders, "And then when I came here, I realized that Addison and Derek had finally been broken completely. They had hurt each other too much. So, when they both finally accepted that and I got the call from Addison I came right out. And when Webber offered me the permanent job, I jumped at it. This is my chance. This is my chance to finally work things out with Addison. There isn't anything in our way this time."

As he had finished with his story, Izzie decided she could speak once again, "Except for Alex."

Mark nodded, "Except for Alex." He studied Izzie's face. "So, do I earn the good guy title yet?"

Izzie paused for a long moment, thinking over what he had just told her. "You really do love her, don't you?"

"I do."

Izzie bit her lip. "Then, I've got to tell you that I'm sorry."

Mark gave her a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"I was up on the roof because I was checking on Addison and Alex. I had locked them up there."

"What?!"

"I knew that Alex had real feelings for her, but he wouldn't admit it. So I locked them on the roof to force them to work things out."

Mark got to his feet, "It's been raining out there. Addison will be freezing! And furious."

Izzie shook her head, "As soon as the storm started, I went to go get them. That's when you saw me on the stairs."

"Then why weren't they with you?"

"They were a little...umm...busy," Izzie said with a blush. "They didn't even notice I was there."

Izzie watched anger and sadness cross over Mark's face. She didn't quite know how to feel. On the one hand, she was glad that Alex had worked things out with Addison. On the other hand, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Mark.

"Well," Mark said sarcastically, "I'm so glad that I opened up to you tonight."

Before Izzie could protest, Mark had stormed out of the bar.

Izzie sighed and buried her head in her hands. That was not how she had been expecting the night to turn out.

\---


	15. Chapter 15

"This is nice."

Addison leaned forward slightly in the tub, arms resting against her knees, as Alex lazily ran a sponge in circles on her back.

Alex laughed as he moved up to kiss the back of her neck.

"I'd say this is more than nice, Addison."

Addison smiled and leaned back into Alex's arms, "I like the way that sounds."

"What?"

"Addison," she murmured. "I like the way you say it."

"How do I say it?" Alex asked.

"Like it's special."

Alex kissed her neck again. "It is special."

"I'm very pleased by this side of you, Alex."

"Which side?"

"This wonderful, sweet, romantic side."

Alex lifted his champagne glass from the side of the tub, and took a sip.

"What can I say? I guess you bring out the best in me."

"Not many people see that side of you, do they?" Addison commented.

"No," Alex said. "They don't."

The pair sat in silence for a long moment, just enjoying each other's company. It just felt right, sitting as they were, Addison's back resting against Alex's chest, his arms draped around her. Addison couldn't remember the last time she had felt so at peace.

"You know," Addison began as Alex nuzzled her neck, "We are really going to have to do something nice for Doctor Stevens."

"We sure do."

"What exactly do you get someone who locks you on the roof to jump-start your romantic life?"

"I don't know," Alex admitted, "But I'm betting that Hallmark doesn't make cards for that."

Addison laughed, "No. They probably don't. And I suppose it'd be a bit unprofessional to throw her a couple of good surgeries for helping my love life."

Alex snorted, "No more unprofessional than Shepherd giving the best surgeries to Meredith." He felt Addison stiffen slightly, and immediately regretted saying anything. "Hey, I'm sorry."

Addison shook her head, "No. That's fine. You're right actually. He does do that. I can't believe the Chief hasn't said anything to him." She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Alex, "And don't think that I'm going to be giving you any special treatment."

"I can't say I'm surprised," Alex said, returning her grin. "So, are we going public with this?"

"I think we should go see the Chief first thing tomorrow. It's better we tell him than him finding out another way. He won't be pleased, but he'll appreciate us being honest about it."

"As long as he doesn't start gunning for me too," Alex said with a grimace. "Between Sloan and Shepherd I've got enough to worry about."

Addison chuckled slightly, "I don't think you'll have to worry about Derek anymore. I talked to him. I really think that he's going to back off. He's afraid that you're going to hurt me, but I managed to convince him that it really isn't his business anymore. Mark, on the other hand, is going to still be a problem. But that's just how Mark is. He's territorial, but it's not like he's still in love with me, or anything."

Alex shook his head, "Sloan's an ass. Why'd you ever cheat on your husband with him?" Alex's eyes widened when he realized what he had just said. He could feel the sudden change in the atmosphere of the room.

"Oh, God. Addison. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--"

But Addison had already stood up and stepped out of the tub. She grabbed a robe that was hanging on a hook on the door and quickly wrapped it around herself. Without saying a word she opened the bathroom door and stepped out, closing it behind her.

Alex swore silently to himself as he quickly climbed out of the bathtub. He secured a towel around his waist, and followed after Addison. When he stepped out of the bathroom he saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

He approached quietly and knelt down in front of her. He reached up and gently brushed the tears from her face, relieved when she didn't flinch away from him.

"Addison, I'm really sorry. I just wasn't thinking. I never should have said anything about that. I can be a real idiot sometimes." He looked at her pleadingly, hoping that he hadn't ruined this before it had even really started.

Addison took a shuddering breath and bit her lip. "No, Alex, it's fine."

Alex shook her head, "No. It's not fine. I made you cry. That's not fine."

"You actually have a right to know. If we're actually going to try and have a go at being a couple, you need to know what happened with Derek, Mark and me."

"If you want to wait, that's fine. We don't have to do this now."

Addison laughed despite herself, "Well, I think the romance of tonight has already been broken. I might as well tell you now."

Alex sat next to Addison on the bed, and put an arm around her.

"Okay," he said. "If you're sure you're okay with that."

Addison leaned her head on Alex's shoulder, "I don't even know where to start."

"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Alex suggested.

"Well, the first thing you have to understand is that Mark and Derek have been friends since they were kids..."

\----


	16. Chapter 16

"I dated a lot of guys before Derek, but I had never fallen in love before." Addison sat on the edge of the bed in her hotel room, Alex at her side, listening intently to her story.

"Mark and Derek were practically like brothers when I met them. Mark flirted with me from the moment I met him," Addison smiled at the memory. "He was hard to resist, but it was Derek that I couldn't get out of my head. I didn't even know he was interested in me. But then for my birthday he gave me this tube of chapstick."

Alex interrupted, "Yeah. Derek told me the story of how you got together."

Addison nodded, a little surprised. "Okay, I'll skip all that then. When Derek and I got married, I thought I was the luckiest woman in the world. And for the first years of our marriage, things were fantastic. Don't get me wrong, we fought like hell sometimes, but at the end of the day, we were always there for each other. But overtime, things changed. Derek changed. He started spending more and more time at work. We worked at the same hospital, but I barely saw him. And while I was seeing Derek less, I was seeing Mark more. He had become my friend, as well as Derek's. I cared a lot about him. And when I was feeling lonely and abandoned, he was there for me." Addison paused for a moment, trying to hold back tears.

"And then one night Mark, Derek, and I were supposed to have dinner. Derek didn't show, but Mark did. And that's when he told me he was in love with me. That he had been in love with me for years. And he told me that he hated the way Derek was treating me. He told me that I deserved better. He told me that if he were my husband he would never leave my side." Addison shook her head. "And I now it's not a good enough excuse. I know that I should have told him to leave. No matter how bad things were with Derek, I shouldn't have cheated on him. But I was so lonely. And here was this great guy, telling me everything that I wanted to hear from Derek. And so I made a huge, stupid, selfish mistake."

Alex wasn't sure quite what he was supposed to say, so he remained silent.

"And then Derek left. I knew he'd be angry. I knew that. But I never thought he'd leave me. I guess there was part of me that thought it would be the shock he needed to try to fix our marriage. Why else would I do it in our own bedroom? But he left. And I tried to convince myself that I could make things work with Mark. Mark would never admit it, but I think it was the same for him, you know? We tried to convince ourselves that we loved each other. Because somehow that made our betrayal of Derek less terrible."

Alex reached up and brushed hair out of Addison's face. "He should have stayed," he said softly.

"What?" Addison asked.

"He should have stayed. He should have tried to work things out. Yeah, what you did was horrible. I don't want to hurt you, but it was. You slept with his best friend. But it was an act of desperation. He should have tried to stay and work things out. I don't know Shepherd that well, but he seems to be a guy who wants things to be easy. I mean, he could have really tried to work things out with you when you came to Seattle, but he didn't. It was easier to just pine after Meredith. That way he got to pretend that he was the good guy trying to work things out. To really work things out with you, Shepherd would have to admit to his own responsibility for the problems in your marriage." Alex shrugged, "And in the end, you challenge him. Meredith doesn't."

"So, I'm a challenge?" Addison asked with a wry smile.

Alex nodded, "You certainly are. But I like a challenge." He leaned forward and kissed Addison. "I don't want someone I can just walk all over. I don't want someone who'll put me on a pedestal. I want someone who will call me on my bullshit. When I push, I want to be pushed back."

"You should be careful, Karev. I can push pretty hard," Addison said, eyes full of mirth.

"I'm counting on it," Alex said before learning in to kiss her again. They fell back onto the bed together, laughing.

\---------

THE NEXT DAY

Izzie stifled a yawn as she walked down the hallway toward the locker room. She had been up tossing and turning most of the night. Even now, she was unsettled. On the one hand she was really happy that her plan for Addison and Alex had apparently been successful. On the other hand, she felt really bad for Dr. Sloan. She hadn't been expecting that. Sloan had been nothing but a jerk since he first walked through the doors of Seattle Grace. But after hearing his side of the whole Shepherd marriage disaster, she couldn't just dismiss him as an arrogant jackass. And the look on his face when she had told him about seeing Addison and Alex on the roof...It had been like watching someone's heartbreak. And all at once the decent, kind, vulnerable part of Sloan that she had seen all shut down. From heartbreak, to anger, to complete stony blankness, all in about five seconds.

Izzie was a fixer. It was what she did. But she wasn't sure how she was going to fix this. She wasn't sure if she could. She didn't really regret trying to get Alex together with Dr. Montgomery. She had seen the looks they exchanged. She knew the way Alex felt about her. How could she feel bad about helping her friend get the woman he loved? But she still just couldn't get the look on Sloan's face out of her head.

"Dr. Stevens!"

Izzie turned; suddenly worried when she saw an extremely pissed-off looking Addison Montgomery headed her way. Immediately, Izzie's heart fell, sure that things must have gone wrong with Alex somehow.

"Yes, Dr. Montgomery?" Izzie asked nervously.

"Dr. Stevens," Addison's voice was quiet, but fierce. "That stunt you pulled last night was immature, dangerous, and more than slightly insane. If you ever try something that stupid again, it will mean the end of your career here at Seattle Grace, do you understand me?"

"B-but," Izzie stuttered, "I thought..."

"Do you understand me?" Addison repeated.

"Yes, ma'am." Izzie said, biting her lip.

"Good." Addison turned as if to go, then looked back at Izzie. "But, Dr. Stevens?"

"Yeah?"

"As far as immature, dangerous and insane plans go, it was a really good one." Addison's face broke out into a grin. "Thank you."

Izzie stared at her a moment in confused disbelief before smiling herself.

"So, you and Alex..." Izzie trailed off.

Addison nodded. "I'm off to meet him right now. We're telling the Chief. But I'll see you after rounds. You're working for me today."

Izzie's smile widened as Addison walked off down the hall. She couldn't believe it. Not only had her plan worked, but they were going to talk to the Chief. Which had to mean that they were both pretty serious about having a real relationship.

Now, if only she could think of a way to make Dr. Sloan happy.

\------

"Dr. Bailey!"

Bailey turned to see Dr. Shepherd hurrying toward her.

"Have you seen Addison?" he asked as he approached.

Bailey shook her head. "She's in the Chief's office. She's actually been in there most of the morning."

"Really?" Derek asked with a quizzical look. "What's she doing?"

"I have no idea. But Karev is in there as well. My guess is that the Chief heard about all the fighting that's been going on. But if that were the case I think he would have called your sorry butt in there as well!"

"Hey!" Derek protested."

Bailey just glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "What? You think I didn't hear about the other day? First you make Dr. Montgomery cry. Then you start yelling at Karev. Then you and Addison and Grey have a confrontation which involves Grey leaving in tears." She pointed a finger at Derek. "You've been causing a lot of problems with my interns!"

"Why doesn't Addison get yelled at?" Derek asked. "After all, she's been the one having secret liaisons with one of your interns. At least Meredith and I are out in the open.

"You are now," Miranda said. "And don't you worry. I'll be having a little talk with your ex-wife later. Why do you need to see her anyway?"

"We need to find a new time to sign the final divorce papers. We were supposed to do it tomorrow, but I've got a surgery. If you see her, tell her I'm looking for her."

"I will," Miranda said. "And Dr. Shepherd?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop making women cry."

"Yeah," Derek said, a sheepish expression on his face. "I'll try."


	17. Chapter 17

Chief Webber watched as Doctors Montgomery and Karev made left his office. They were somber enough in their exit, but he could see them through the open slates of the blinds of his office window, smiling widely at each other.

Richard did note that the two weren't overly affectionate. Karev did reach up at brush some hair out of Addison's face, but then they simply went their separate ways. That, at least, Richard appreciated. Bad enough that he had employees dating each other. He certainly didn't want them groping each other in the hallways.

He sighed, wondering how on earth he had ended up with three interns who were dating attendings. It gave him a headache just thinking about it. The hospital was a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen.

It wasn't like he hadn't heard the rumors about Addison and Karev. Hell, Richard didn't think there was anyone in the hospital that hadn't heard about all the fights going on with Addison, Derek, Karev, and Mark Sloan. But he hadn't been able to believe that a romantic relationship was really at the root of all that fighting. Addison wasn't the sort to get involved with an intern. It was unprofessional, and it was stupid. Two things that Addison definitely wasn't.

When Addison had approached him first thing that morning and told him they needed to talk. And that Karev needed to be there two, his first thought was that there was some sort of professional problem; he knew that the two had had issues with one another in the past.

But then Addison had told him straight out that she and Karev would be pursuing a relationship. Frankly he hadn't known what to say at first. On the one hand, he was glad that they had come to him first thing. He was less pleased at the hints that they had been involved in some sort of physical relationship on and off for the past few months, but he appreciated that they were coming to him now.

On the other hand he was frustrated that yet another one of his staff was with yet another one of his interns. However much they all might say that they'd be able to keep everything professional in the hospital, he knew that wouldn't always be the case. Relationships failed all the time. And when you factored in the stress of being a surgeon, failure was even more likely. And he wanted a staff of doctors that would be easily able to work together. Romance could make that hard. Failed romance could make that almost impossible.

He had conveyed all of his worries to Addison and Karev. And they had both acknowledged them. They said that they had talked it over as well, and that they were still planning on going through with it.

Richard wasn't thrilled, but he'd accept it. Addison had always had a good head on her shoulders. And Karev was shaping up to be a good doctor, and a responsible young man. They might actually have a chance at making it work. And Richard did believe that Addison deserved some happiness after everything she had been through since her arrival in Seattle. But really, he just wanted to make sure that they didn't screw up his hospital.

\-------

Izzie and George were standing in the hallway, waiting for rounds to begin, when they noticed Cristina walking quickly towards them.

"Oh my god. You guys won't believe what I just heard from one of the nurses."

Izzie suppressed a grin at Cristina's excited tone. "You mean about Alex and Doctor Montgomery going to the Chief to tell him they were going to start dating?"

Cristina's face fell. "You already know? How do you already know?"

Izzie smiled and shrugged, "I just know."

George was looking back and forth between his two friends. "Wait a minute, what are you guys talking about? Alex and Doctor Montgomery are dating?"

Izzie nodded. "They are now."

George shook his head in disbelief. "That's...terrifying."

"It is a little weird," Cristina agreed. "I was surprised enough that she was making out with him in supply closets. But actually dating an intern? She always seems like the uber-professional type." Cristina thought for a moment, "Then again, so did Burke."

"But why Alex?" George asked.

"Honestly? I think she just wants an intern of her own to get even with Shepherd."

At that, Izzie had to speak up. She shook her head vehemently. "No. She really likes him. And he really likes her. It doesn't have anything to do with Derek. I think it's really sweet, actually."

George and Cristina both looked at her oddly.

"You think it's sweet?" Cristina asked.

"How do you know how they feel about each other? George asked.

Izzie ignored Cristina's question and focused on George's. She wasn't going to tell anyone about what she had done, but these were her friends. Besides, she was kind of proud of the results.

"Do you guys promise not to tell anyone else?"

Cristina and George exchanged looks, knowing what they were about to hear would be good.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?" Meredith had come out of the locker room, and approached her friends when she saw them huddled together in the hall.

"Meredith, hey. Izzie is about to tell us how she has inside knowledge on the Montgomery/Alex thing?"

Meredith shot Cristina a confused look, "You guys are still talking about that?"

Cristina shook her head. "This isn't the sex in supply closets thing. They're dating now. They talked to the Chief this morning."

Meredith raised her eyebrows. This was a rather surprising development. She was actually kind of happy for Alex. She knew that he had taken the Izzie/Denny relationship pretty hard. It was good that Alex was moving on. It was good that Doctor Montgomery was too. Contrary to what a lot of people in the hospital probably thought, she didn't hate Derek's estranged wife. Addison had actually treated her extremely well considering the circumstances. But she was worried about how Derek was going to react. If he had exploded over a few make-out sessions, how would he react to this? And what would it mean for their relationship?

"Okay, Izzie," George prompted. "Spill."

\---------

Mark wanted to hit something.

Well, really he wanted to hit someone. Alex Karev, specifically.

Addison had finally moved on from Derek. And it wasn't with him.

Until now, Mark had been able to convince himself that Addison would come back to him eventually. She had insisted that she wouldn't. She had even said that they couldn't have a physical thing. But he hadn't believed it.

The minute Addison had called him and asked him to come to Seattle he thought that they'd be together. He had flown out and comforted her over Derek's betrayal. They'd had fantastic, amazing, mind-blowing sex. And even when she had pushed him away after that, he believed that he'd win her over in the end. She'd let go of the guilt she still felt about their affair, and they could finally have a real go at it. That's why he had taken the job at Seattle Grace.

But now, Mark was finally convinced that it wasn't going to happen. He had lost Addison. He had lost the only woman that he had ever loved. And to an intern at that. A cocky, jerk of an intern who happened to want a career in Mark's specialty. Which meant that Mark would continue to have to work with this guy. And he knew if he put Karev through too much hell, Addison would hate him for it. So he'd have to be careful.

But he still really just wanted to punch him in the face.


	18. Chapter 18

"That was easier then I thought it would be." Addison said to Alex once they had left Chief Webber's office.

Alex shook his head, "I don't know if I would call that easy, Addison. When you first came out and told him I thought that his head was going to explode."

Addison laughed and shook her head. "He's just worried about all these relationships disrupting the work place. He is concerned with what happens when we break up."

Alex grinned at Addison as the stepped onto the elevator. "Well, that shouldn't be a problem, as I don't plan on breaking up with you anytime soon."

"I'm glad to hear that," Addison said, returning his smile. As the elevator doors closed, she stepped in front of Alex, draping her arms around his neck. "I don't plan on letting go of you anytime soon, either."

Alex moved his arms to encircle Addison's waist. He went to kiss her, then stopped, his lips a mere inch away from hers.

"What about Webber's rules against workplace displays of affection?" He asked with a smile.

"We're alone in an elevator, Alex. Besides, I never took you as the type to follow all the rules."

Addison closed the distance between them, bringing her mouth to his. Alex responded immediately, deepening the kiss, teasing her lips with his tongue until they opened, allowing him entrance to her mouth. Addison moved a hand up to the back of Alex's head, holding him even more tightly against her.

When the elevator stopped moving, they both broke apart, breathless. Addison quickly moved aside, and straightened her lab coat. When the doors to the elevator opened, they were both looking professional again.

Except for the wicked grin on Alex's face.

"I've gotta say," Alex confided in a low tone, "Breaking the rules has never been so much fun."

Addison shook her head, but could help but smile. "This is my floor. Will you be joining me for lunch today, Doctor Karev?" Addison asked as she got off of the elevator.

"I think I could manage that, Doctor Montgomery." Alex winked at her as the elevator doors closed between them.

Glancing at his watch, Alex realized he needed to get a move on. They had come in early so they could talk to the Chief, but rounds were about to begin. And he didn't want to face Bailey's wrath.

\----------

"Seriously," George asked Izzie, a look of disbelief on his face. "You seriously locked Doctor Montgomery on the roof? Doctor Addison Montgomery. One of the best Neonatal surgeons in the country-and maybe the world-and you locked her on the roof!"

"Keep your voice down!" Izzie admonished, elbowing George lighting in the ribs. "I don't want everyone in the hospital to know, and I doubt Alex or Doctor Montgomery would want that either."

Meredith just shook her head. She had listened to Izzie's story in astonishment. She couldn't believe that Izzie had actually locked Addison and Alex on the roof of the hospital overnight. It was one of the craziest plans she had ever heard of.

"You're insane," Cristina said, obviously sharing Meredith and George's sentiments. "You know that, right? I mean, you are actually insane."

Izzie grinned, and shrugged. "It all worked out in the end, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Meredith acknowledged. "It looks like it did. But, seriously: what if it hadn't worked? Alex would have never spoken to you again, and Doctor Montgomery probably would have had you thrown out of the program."

George nodded vigorously in agreement. "Not to mention what Bailey will do to you when she finds out."

"Finds out what?"

All of the interns stiffened when they heard a new voice enter the conversation. Izzie cringed as she looked up to see Bailey standing in front of them, arms crossed over her chest. She didn't look happy, not at all.

"Um, nothing, Doctor Bailey."

Bailey snorted. "Nothing my ass." She studied her interns carefully, but none of them looked like they would talk. "I assure you, I will find out what you were talking about. And when I do, the appropriate people will be punished. But right now, it's time for rounds. Where's Karev?"

"I'm here!" Alex said, hurrying down the hallway to join his fellow interns.

"You're late."

"Sorry. I was talking to the Chief."

Bailey nodded. "I know you were. And trust me, I'll be talking to you later. I've been hearing a lot of interesting rumors the past few days." Bailey turned her glare from Alex to encompass the others as well. "Do you people know how many of the rumors in this hospital involve at least one of you? It seems like every time there is a bit of gossip in this place, it has something to do with one of my interns. 4 of the 5 of my interns have been involved in some sort of sexual relationship with an attending or a resident. Stevens, do you plan on sleeping with one of your superiors, too?"

Izzie shook her head, hating to be singled out when Bailey was on one of her rants. "No, ma'am. I hadn't planned on it."

"Good," Bailey said with a firm nod. "Because the next time I hear some gossip involving one of my interns, there are going to be some serious consequences. Do you all understand that?"

The interns muttered their agreement.

"Do you understand?" Bailey asked, more forcefully.

They agreed again, this time more loudly.

Satisfied, Bailey turned and headed down the hallway. "Let's get to work, people."

Exchanging glances, the interns quickly followed after her, no one willing to risk saying even a word.

\-------

One thing that Derek had to be happy about was that the surgery he had scheduled was postponed. Derek prided himself on being able to put everything else aside when he operated, but he still hated going into a surgery when he was angry.

And right now, Derek could remember the last time he had been so angry. Actually, he could. He had been this angry when Mark showed up at Seattle Grace for the first time. The time before that was when Addison had shown up.

As soon as he learned his patient's operation needed to be put off, he had gone to Richard's office. He had wanted to apologize for his own actions in the troubles that had been going on for the past couple of days.

Derek had been feeling better. Addison had told him that things with Karev were over. And with that worry gone, Derek had been able to focus on fixing the damage he had done to his relationship with Meredith. Things were going well. He felt bad that Addison had been called into a meeting with the Chief, but he knew that Richard cared great deal for Addison, and wouldn't be too hard on her.

But when he talked to the Chief he learned that Addison and Karev hadn't been called into a meeting. Rather, they had gone to Richard on their own. Or rather they had gone to see Richard together. They had gone to tell him that they were involved. Not just a fling either. They were dating.

Derek couldn't believe it when Richard told him. Last he knew, Addison was furious at Karev for spilling the beans on their on-call room liaisons. She had been insistent that they hadn't ever even had any sort of actually relationship. What had happened to change that overnight?

Derek was making his way to the hospital's gym. He felt the need to do something physical. Maybe beat on a punching bag for a while. If asked, he wouldn't have even been able to give a real reason for why he was so angry about this. But the whys didn't matter to him right now. Whatever the reason, he was angry about it. He was furious. Speculation about why could come later. Right now he just wanted to hit something.

When he walked into the gym, he stopped short. Just when he thought his morning couldn't get any worse...

"Derek."

Derek sighed and gritted his teeth as he looked at the figure that was already at one of the two punching bags.

"Hello, Mark."

\------


	19. Chapter 19

Mark and Derek stared at each other for a long time before either one said anything. For both of them, it still felt odd to not be friends. They had been inseparable since they were kids. They had been more than just good friends. They had been family. Things had always been easy between them, even when they were competing. Mark would have given anything to have that back. And though he would never admit it, Derek would too.

"Don't see you here very often," Mark said eventually.

Derek shrugged. "I just needed to hit something today." He headed over the bag next to Mark. He slipped on some gloves to help protect his hands, and then started swinging. His punches were short, controlled, and powerful.

Mark watched him for a few seconds. Whatever problems there might now be between them, Mark still knew his former friend well. And right now, Derek wasn't just exercising. Hell, he wasn't even just letting off a little steam. He was seriously pissed about something. And Mark had an inkling he knew exactly what that something was.

"So, you heard about Addison and Karev, then?"

Derek stopped and looked at him for a moment, before returning to work over the punching bag. But he gave a curt nod. "Yeah. The Chief told me."

"The Chief, huh? Damn. If Addison went to the Chief about it, she must be pretty serious."

"Looks that way."

"Addison and my intern." Mark shook his head and delivered a powerful right hook to the bag in front of him. "How the hell did that happen? How does Karev go from sucking up to me trying to get into plastics to stealing my girl."

Derek stopped and looked up at Mark, an odd look on his face. "Your girl? I don't think you get to complain about somebody stealing Addison from you."

Mark snorted and shook his head. "Yeah, I guess you're probably right about that." He laughed harshly, "I guess this is karma biting me in the ass, right?"

Derek smiled in spite of himself. "Well, I'd say that I feel sorry for you, but that would be a lie."

Mark smirked. "I just don't get what she could possibly see in him."

Derek just stared at him. "You're kidding me right? Alex Karev is basically a younger version of you. Though I guess that still does leave the question of why she would possible like him."

"You're a very funny man, Derek." Mark's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Derek turned serious again. "What I don't understand is what changed from two days ago? The last I knew, Addison was furious at Alex. She told me that all they had had was a physical thing, and that even that was over. So what the hell happened? What changed?"

"I'll tell you what happened," Mark said as he threw another punch. "Isobel Stevens happened."

Derek looked over at Mark, confused. "Izzie? What the hell does she have to do with anything?"

"She apparently decided that Addison and Karev belong together. She locked them up on the roof last night."

"Are you fucking with me?" Derek asked.

"Nope. She locked them up on the roof to force them to admit that they had real feelings for each other."

Derek just stared at him. "But that's insane."

Mark nodded. "Damn straight it's insane. But apparently it worked."

Derek said nothing; he just took one last big swing at the punching bag, before storming away.

"Where are you going?" Mark called after him.

Derek turned to glance back at him. "I'm going to go have talk with Doctor Stevens."

\------

"Addison Montgomery, you're a hard person to track down."

Addison looked up from the table she was seated at in the court yard to see Miranda standing in front of her, arms crossed over her chest, a look of disapproval on her face. Addison let out a sigh. This, she knew, was not going to be good.

"Hello, Miranda."

"Do you mind if I take a seat?"

"Actually, I have plans to meet someone for lunch," Addison replied.

"Someone," Miranda stared at her evenly. "Would that someone possibly be a certain intern of mine that you have been having making out with in supply closets for months without telling me."

"Have a seat, Miranda." Addison knew that there was no way she was going to be able to skip this conversation. They had to talk about it sometime, and it may as well be now.

"First I hear rumors of arguments in the hallways involving you, two of my interns, and a certain dreamy neurosurgeon. Then, earlier today, I hear that you went to talk to the Chief, not because he wanted to know what was going on with all the fighting, but because you wanted to tell him that you plan on starting a relationship with Alex Karev. Is that true?"

Addison met Miranda's intense gaze. "Yes. It's true. Alex and I are dating now."

Miranda shook her head. "You should have told me," she said accusingly. "You should have told me about the make-out sessions, and you certainly should have told me about it when it turned serious."

Addison ran a hand through her hair. "I know that I should have told you. But, frankly, I figured you'd rather not know about the liaisons in supply closets as long as no one else in the hospital knew about them. And it only turned serious last night. Before that, I was pretty sure that Alex didn't even like me as a person."

"And what happened last night?" Miranda asked.

Addison wasn't entirely sure how to answer that question. She didn't want to get Doctor Stevens in trouble. Sure, her stunt had been crazy, but it had worked. And Addison felt she owed her a great deal. She didn't want to send a wrathful Miranda Bailey her way.

So, Addison simply shrugged. "I don't know. We finally just got a chance to really talk."

"Mmm-hmm." Bailey continued to stare at her, clearly not believing that she was getting the whole story.

"Miranda, please. I really am sorry if this is causing you any embarrassment. I know your interns have caused quite a bit of gossip around here."

"You can say that again," Miranda interjected. "I don't even want to know what some of the doctors in the place must think about my teaching skills."

"Miranda," Addison said, reaching out to pat her friend's hand, "You have some of the most skilled interns in this place. They may all have screwy personal lives, but each and every one of them is going to make a great surgeon. And that's largely because of you."

Miranda nodded in thanks. She knew that Addison meant what she said, and she was touched by it. "Well, I'll leave you alone for your date." Miranda stood up, "But you make sure that you don't do anything to screw this up. I'm not dealing with anymore heartbroken interns, do you hear me?"

Addison grinned. "I promise, Miranda. I won't break him."

"See that you don't"

As Miranda was walking away, Alex approached, giving Addison a quick kiss on the cheek before he sat down.

"What did Bailey want?"

"To talk about you and me."

Alex groaned, "She's not on the warpath, is she?"

Addison shook her head, "No. Not right now, but I'm sure she'll want to talk to you about it all later."

"Great," Alex said flatly. "There's something to look forward to."

"Come on," Addison chided him. "You've already survived Mark and Derek. How much worse can it get?"

"Man," Alex said with a shake of his head, "Bailey's scarier than Derek and Mark combined."

Addison laughed and Alex grinned at her. He may have to face an angry Bailey later, but it was worth it. It was totally worth it.

\--------

Izzie was walking down the corridor, lost in thought. She hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to Alex today, but when he first saw her at rounds, he had flashed a huge smile her way. It seemed like everything was going to be good between him and Addison, which made her extremely happy. But there was still the question of what to do about Mark Sloan.

"Doctor Stevens!"

Izzie was startled from her revelry, and turned to see Doctor Shepherd headed her way, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'd like to talk to you," Derek said softly when he caught up with Izzie.

Izzie bit her lip, "Can it wait? I was about to head to lunch, I'm supposed to meet Meredith and George."

Derek shook her head. "No. I don't think this can wait." He grabbed Izzie by the arm, and firmly led her into a nearby empty room, closing the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Izzie asked, worry evident on her face. "Did something happen? Is something wrong with Meredith?"

Derek stood in front of the door, glaring at Izzie, his arms crossed.

"You and I are going to have a little talk about my wife."

\----------


	20. Chapter 20

Izzie shook her head. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered under her breath. She tried to move around Derek and get to the door, but he continued to block her path.

"You're not going anywhere until we've talked."

"Fine." Izzie crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Derek, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground.

"My wife and your friend have apparently decided to pursue an actual relationship." Derek continued to glare at Izzie. "You have to understand, I was more than a little surprised to hear this, since the last I had spoken to Addison, she wanted nothing to do with Karev. But now I hear that you're the one who got them together."

Izzie stared back at Derek, blank-faced.

"Well?" Derek asked eventually when Izzie didn't respond.

"Well what?"

"You really don't have anything to say?"

Izzie rolled her eyes. "Why would I have anything to say about that? Yeah, I did get them together. I'm proud that I got them together. Alex is my friend, and Addison is becoming a mentor to me. They both obviously had real feelings for each other, so I gave them a little push. So what?"

Derek's face began to grow red. "She's my wife. I don't want Alex Karev anywhere near her. God, he's like Mark Junior."

Izzie shook her head, before she was just annoyed, but now she was getting genuinely pissed off. "Stop it. Just stop, okay? Seriously. What is wrong with you? You're dating one of my best friends. You say that you're madly in love with her. So, why the hell are you still calling Addison your wife? You're in the middle of divorce proceedings. Meredith said that you're supposed to filing the final papers tomorrow. Leave Addison and Alex alone."

"It was over, Izzie. Why couldn't you have just left it alone? It was over! What, your boyfriend dies so you decide you have to mess around with everybody else's relationships?"

Izzie's voice was raised. Sometimes she really didn't know what Meredith saw in Derek. He may be gorgeous, but right now his behavior was far from dreamy. She moved closer to Derek as she spoke, pointing a finger at his chest.

"You really need to pull your head out of your ass."

Derek smirked. "Do you really think that you should talk to an attending that way?"

Izzie shook her head, "Oh, no. No. You don't get to pull rank on me after pulling me in here to yell at me about Addison's love life. Right now, you're not an attending and I'm not an intern. You're just the jackass who is dating one of my best friends.

"What did you think would happen here? That I'd apologize for getting the two of them together, and try to help you figure out a way to break them up? Is that seriously what you thought? You've moved on. You chose Meredith. You chose her. You broke it off with Addison. You're happy with Meredith. Why do you care who Addison is dating?"

Derek clenched his jaw. "I just don't want her to get hurt."

"No," Izzie said with a sigh. "You don't want her to be happy."

Derek looked at her in surprise, all the anger dropping from his face. "That's not true," he said softly. "You can't really think that's true."

"You don't want Addison. You're getting a divorce. Your relationship is over. You're happy with Meredith. But you're still pissed at Dr. Montgomery. It's like you don't think she's been punished enough for the affair. So the fact that she's with a guy like Mark is even worse for you. She's happy with a man who reminds you of the guy who ruined your marriage." Izzie shrugged. "You've moved on. But you don't ever want her to do the same. You want her to continue to stew in the misery and the regret of her affair. You've moved on, but you still haven't forgiven her."

Derek looked at the floor, not saying a word.

"Can I go now?"

Without looking up, Derek stepped aside and let Izzie pass. When she was gone, he leaned heavily against the door, pondering what the blonde intern had just told him.

\---------

Addison was standing on the roof of hospital, gazing out at the hospital grounds. It was a rare clear day, and she could see for miles.

"I got your note."

Addison smiled and turned to see Alex stepping out of the stairwell doorway.

Alex quickly walked over to her, pulling her into an embrace.

"Are we going to have a repeat of our last rooftop meeting?" Alex asked as he nuzzled Addison's neck.

Addison laughed and playfully pushed him away. "Not this time I'm afraid." Addison picked up two styrofoam cups from the roof's ledge and handed one to Alex.

"Coffee?" Alex asked.

"Yep. You're scrubbing in on a dangerous surgery with Burke this afternoon. So I thought this is was good time to introduce you to the juju."

Alex shot her a look. "What's juju?"

"You don't know juju?" Addison asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure that's a word I'd remember," Alex said with a smirk.

"Coffee before surgery is good juju. It's like a good-luck charm."

Alex raised his eyebrows, "You believe in good-luck charms?"

Addison swatted Alex on the arm. "Don't question it. Just shut up and drink your damned juju."

"Okay, okay." Alex smiled and took a sip. "That better?"

Addison nodded. "Much."

"So, you invited me up to the roof for juju?" Alex asked.

Addison smiled slyly. "That was part of it."

"What's the other part?"

Addison took the cup from Alex and set it back down on the ledge. She turned to Alex, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"That's the other part," she whispered when they pulled apart.

"I thought we weren't allowed to do that at the hospital. Do we get to break rules on the roof like we do in the hospital?"

Addison shook her head. "No. This isn't breaking the rules. See, Richard didn't say we couldn't be physical with each other 'at' the hospital, but that we couldn't be physically affectionate 'in' the hospital. We are not in the hospital. We are on the hospital. That's an entirely different thing."

"Really?" Alex asked with a grin.

"You don't agree?"

"No," Alex assured her, "I definitely agree. Of course, I'd probably agree to anything that meant I got to kiss you more often."

Addison smiled. "Then shut up and kiss me, Dr. Karev."

"Gladly, Dr. Montgomery."

\------

Izzie stalked over to the Nurses' Station where George, Cristina, and Meredith were standing.

"Did any of you tell anyone else about Alex and Addison and the roof?"

The other interns exchanged looks, wondering what had Izzie so riled up. They all shook their heads.

"What's wrong, Izzie?" George asked.

"Derek just reamed me out for getting Addison and Alex together."

"He what?" Meredith asked, aghast. "Seriously? I'm going to go talk to him." She hurried away, off to look for her boyfriend.

"How do you think he found out?" Cristina asked.

"Maybe Dr. Montgomery said something to him."

Izzie shook her head. "I doubt it. But I didn't tell anyone but you guys." Realization hit her. "Except for Sloan."

Without another word Izzie spun around and headed off to look for Dr. Sloan.

George shook his head. "I'm really wouldn't want to be Mark Sloan right now."

Cristina nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but I sure wish I could watch what's about to happen to him."

"Yeah."

\----------

Mark Sloan had just stepped out of the locker room when he found himself being pushed back inside by a very angry looking Dr. Stevens.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked as she stood before him, arms folded.

"What the hell is wrong with you? What, you were too lazy to yell at me yourself so you send Derek to do it?"

Mark smirked, "He really went and yelled at you? That's going to go over well with Addison."

"Yeah," Izzie snapped. "I imagine Meredith's really pleased too."

"Hey," Mark said. "You can't blame me for this. I didn't know he'd react that way when I told him about your little scheme."

Izzie rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. You knew exactly what he was going to do. I know that you're pissed. I get that, I really do. And I'm sorry that you got hurt. But Dr. Montgomery is happy. Alex is happy. She obviously wasn't all that happy when she was with you or she would have stayed with you. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's true. And can you really blame her for not being happy with you? You're the reason her marriage ended. Being with you caused her world to fall apart.

"And everybody in the hospital knows you cheated on her when you two were together. You didn't love her enough to be loyal to her, so why the hell should she stay with you? If you actually care about her, if this isn't just about wanting to beat Derek, then you should at least be happy that she's happy. She's in love. She's happy. Alex is the reason she's happy. Leave her alone."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Mark said angrily.

"You're sad and you're miserable. Fine. I understand that. And like I said, I'm sorry. But while I get that you're hurt about Addison choosing to be with Alex, that's only a small part of your problem."

"Oh, really?" Mark asked. "Please, enlighten me, Dr. Stevens. What's the rest of my problem?"

"You're a jackass," Izzie said simply.

"Excuse me?"

"You're a jackass. You've been a jackass from the moment you came to Seattle Grace. You're miserable and lonely because you don't have any friends. Because Addison chose someone else and is pissed at you. Because you wrecked your friendship with Derek. You're lonely. Yeah, you've already slept with, like, half of the female staff here, but nobody really likes you. And you've decided that the best way to deal with nobody liking you is to act like more of a jerk, by yelling at Alex, by yelling at me, by sending Derek to yell at me.

"You could have friends here. Hell, you could maybe repair things with Addison and even Derek if you actually tried. They were your friends, and they loved and respected you once. So obviously, there has to be something more to you than what you've shown since you've been here.

"So you can blame me all you want for being the reason you lost Addison, but you know that it's not really my fault. It's yours. So get over it. You've loved somebody, and you lost her. That's hard. I know that's hard. But at least Addison is still out there, alive and happy. So, seriously, just stop being such a dick."

Her tirade over, Izzie turned and left, leaving a stunned Mark in her wake.

Mark shook his head slowly. He couldn't help but smile a little. He had just been yelled at by an intern. That didn't happen very often. And he especially hadn't expected something like that from the young, pretty Dr. Stevens. He was impressed, actually. And she had actually given him something to think about. He was still pissed, but there was something else there as well. Later he'd have to do some serious thinking.

But right now all he could think about was how hot Izzie Stevens had looked when she was angry.


	21. Chapter 21

Meredith was worried. She hadn't managed to talk to Derek after he yelled at Izzie the day before. It should have been easy to track someone down at the hospital, but she hadn't been able to. She had tried paging him, but he hadn't responded. He hadn't shown up at her house that night either. At this point, she didn't know what to think.

Izzie hadn't really given her any details about the fight she had with Derek, just that it was about Addison and Alex. Meredith could not understand how he could be so upset about this. It wasn't like she expected him to not care about Addison at all. He had been married to her for a long time. She even understood that part of him would probably always love Addison. She was okay with that. Derek had chosen her. But she couldn't help but worry that maybe Derek was starting to regret that choice. Why else would he be so angry about Addison moving on?

Meredith pulled on her scrub top and slammed her locker door shut. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Instead of facing her and talking to her about what was going on, he was avoiding her completely. He had been distant for days now, ever since he found out about Addison and Alex. But at first he had at least talked to her and worked things out. Now she couldn't even find him.

She walked through the locker room door, and found herself face to face with Derek. Meredith pushed passed him and kept walking.

"Meredith!" Derek called out as he hurried after her. "Meredith, can we please talk?"

Meredith shot him a dirty look. "Maybe I don't want to talk to you, Derek. I was ready to talk yesterday, after you dragged friend into an empty room to scream at her. I was ready to talk last night, after I repeatedly paged you. I was ready to talk last night after I stopped by the trailer. I was ready to talk then. Now? I don't feel like talking."

"Meredith," Derek pleaded.

"I have rounds, Derek." Meredith started walking faster, and Derek let her go.

Meredith let out an angry sigh as she continued walking. She knew she'd have to talk to Derek later, but right now she was too upset. She noticed her fellow interns up ahead, and hurried to join them.

"Hey guys."

Cristina looked at Meredith, a concerned expression on her face. "Are you okay? You look mad. Did you ever manage to find McDreamy last night?"

Meredith shook her head. "I just ran into him by the locker rooms. Now he's ready to talk."

"Shepherd's a jerk," Alex said simply.

Izzie slapped his arm. "Not helping, Alex."

George looked at Alex a little awkwardly. "Hey, Callie wanted me to ask you if you and Addison wanted to go out for drinks tonight."

Alex raised an eyebrow, "Torres wants to double-date?"

George shrugged; it was obvious he was embarrassed. "She's all excited about having another couple to do things with."

Alex shook his head, making small-talk with O'Malley and Torres wasn't exactly how he wanted to spend his night, but he knew Addison would probably be all for it. Reluctantly, Alex nodded his head. "I don't think we've got any plans. I'll ask her when I see her."

"Okay, everybody. I have your assignments. Grey and Karev, you're with Burke. O'Malley, Shepherd. Yang, you're with Montgomery and Doctor Stevens, you've got Doctor Sloan." Bailey stood before them, reading from her clipboard.

Meredith breathed a sigh of relief, glad she wasn't assigned to work with Derek.

"Anyone want to trade with me?" Izzie asked.

"No trading!" Bailey admonished. "Anyway, Sloan asked for you. Now lets go people, we have rounds to do."

\--------

Izzie wondered why Doctor Sloan had asked for her. She couldn't help but think it was probably some sort of punishment. He'd most likely stick her with some sort of gross grunt work to get back at her for yelling at him last night. One thing was for sure; it was going to be a very long day.

"Doctor Sloan?" Izzie approached the Nurses' Station where Sloan was looking over a chart.

Sloan glanced in her direction and pushed a coffee cup toward her. "Here."

Izzie looked at the coffee cup in surprise. "You got me coffee?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Izzie asked, very confused.

Mark flipped the chart closed and began to walk, Izzie hurrying after him.

"It's not a diamond ring, Doctor Stevens, it's a cup of coffee. Does it really need to be questioned?"

Izzie wrinkled her nose in thought. "You know, I really think it does."

"You know what? Now I'm just going to take it back."

He reached for the coffee cup, but Izzie held it away from him.

"You can't take it back. I just want to know why you gave it to me." Izzie went to take a sip, then hesitated. "You didn't spit in it or anything, did you?"

Mark sighed. "Yeah, Stevens. I spat in your coffee. Because apparently I'm 15 years old."

Izzie winced at the sarcasm. "Okay, okay. Sorry." She took a drink. "I'm confused, that's all. I was fairly sure you hated me. After all, I hate you."

"No, you don't."

Izzie blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?"

Mark shrugged. "You don't hate me. I'm too charming to hate."

Izzie snorted. "You weren't very charming when you were yelling at me yesterday."

"Well, you were actually quite charming when you were yelling at me."

Izzie decided to ignore that new, rather disturbing, information and press on. "So, you're not mad at me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Mark stopped walking and looked at her. "You're not actually going to make me say it, are you?"

"Say what?" Izzie was getting frustrated. It was like she had she had been thrown into somebody else's conversation.

"You weren't wrong," Mark said grudgingly.

"I wasn't wrong about what?" Izzie asked.

Mark let out a sigh. "About Addison. She's happy. She wouldn't be happy with me. She can't be happy with me. Not after everything that happened."

Izzie started to respond, but Mark held up a hand to stop her.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm still pissed. Karev's not good enough for her. But Addison deserves to be happy. And if he's what she needs right now, I'm not going to interfere."

Izzie studied him appraisingly. He actually seemed genuine. She was again seeing the part of him that he had shown her the other night when they had gone to Joe's.

Izzie nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"No, you're not." Mark started walking again and Izzie followed.

"You don't think I'm sorry?"

"Nope. But that's okay. I probably deserved it. And I heard you yelled at Derek too, that makes up for it. Besides, it made me realize something. Other than the fact that I need to get over Addison, I mean."

"What's that?"

"We're going to sleep together."

Izzie almost choked on her coffee. "What?!"

"I've decided to seduce you." He said it so matter-of-factly that he might as well have said he decided he wanted her to get his patient's vitals.

Izzie stopped in her tracks. "You realize I could file sexual harassment charges against you, right?"

Mark stopped walking as well, and turned back to look at her. "You could. But you won't."

"And why won't I?" Izzie asked, folding her arms over her chest.

Mark smirked. "Like I said before, I'm very charming."

Izzie just stared at him, and he started moving once again.

"Are you coming or not?" Mark called over his shoulder. "We've got a patient to check in on."

Izzie shook her head, but quickly hurried to catch up. He may be crazy, but Izzie wasn't about to give up a surgery because of it.

"I still hate you," she muttered when she caught up with him.

"No," Mark said simply. "You really don't."

\----------


	22. Chapter 22

"Mark Sloan told me he's going to seduce me," Izzie announced, putting her lunch tray down at the table her friends were sitting around.

George nearly choked on his soda. "He told you what?"

Izzie pulled out a chair and sat down. "He told me he's going to seduce me," she repeated.

Cristina snorted. "What, he just announced it to you?" She shook her head. "What a creep."

Meredith laughed a little. "Not a particularly romantic guy, huh?"

"Shouldn't you, like, report him to the Chief or something?" George asked.

"Or you could just sleep with him."

The other three interns all turned to stare at Cristina.

"What?" she asked with a defensive shrug. "He may be a creep, but he's totally hot. And when's the last time you had sex?"

"I'm not answering that question," Izzie said flatly.

"That just means it's been too long. You should totally sleep with him." Cristina ignored the horrified expressions on her friends' faces, and took a bite of her sandwich. "He's probably pretty good in bed. You should have sex with him."

"Who should sleep with who?"

The interns looked in surprise to see Alex standing by their table, tray in hand.

"Wow," Meredith remarked, "You're not eating with Addison today?"

Alex shook his head. "No, she had an emergency surgery," he explained as he sat down. "Now tell me about the sex thing."

Izzie rolled her eyes, "It's nothing. Cristina is just being stupid."

"It's not stupid," Cristina argued. "You've been too uptight lately. You totally need to get laid."

"Izzie's not going to sleep with Doctor Sloan!" George insisted.

Alex blinked in surprise. "Wait a minute, why would Cristina want you to sleep with Sloan?"

"Because she's a sick, sick person," George contended.

"Doctor Sloan told Izzie he's going to seduce her," Meredith explained. "Cristina thinks that she should let him."

"Sloan's a jackass," Alex said with disgust. He turned to Cristina, "Why would Izzie want to sleep with a jackass?"

"I don't know," Cristina said with a shrug. "But she slept with you, didn't she?"

"Shove it, Yang."

"Guys, seriously, knock it off," Meredith ordered.

"What do you guys think I should do?" Izzie asked. "Except for Cristina, I mean. I don't want my advice to come from someone who is obviously insane!"

"Hey!" Cristina protested.

"Maybe you could just tell Bailey you don't want to work with him," Meredith suggested.

"But then she'd want to know why," Izzie countered. "And she'd either confront him or go to the Chief."

"So what?" Alex asked. "Either way, Sloan gets in trouble. What's wrong with that?"

"I don't want him to get in trouble."

"Why the hell not?" Alex asked.

"Wait, you don't actually like Sloan, do you?" Cristina asked.

"Of course not!" Izzie protested. "But that doesn't mean I want this to blow up into a whole big thing."

"Izzie, your superior told you he's going to try to get you to sleep with him. It kind of is a big thing," George pointed out.

"I'm not going to get him in trouble!" Izzie insisted. She got up from the table and hurried away.

Cristina waited until Izzie was out of earshot, then turned to the others.

"20 bucks says she sleeps with him by the end up the month."

"Cristina!" Meredith admonished.

George rolled his eyes as he stood to leave. "Cristina, Izzie's our friend. We're not betting on her."

"Come on!" Cristina urged.

"I'm with George on this, Cristina. Besides, we should be trying to make sure she doesn't sleep with Doctor Sloan. He'd just end up hurting her, and she doesn't need to be hurt again." Meredith stood and followed George away from the table.

Cristina looked to Alex, and raised a questioning eyebrow.

Alex gave a quick nod. "You're on. But let's make it 50."

"Deal."

\---------------

Addison was actually a little anxious about meeting with O'Malley and Callie for drinks. It would be the first time that she and Alex did something with another couple. She was looking forward to it for the most part, but there was part of her that was a little nervous.

The only serious relationship she had had in her adult life was with Derek. She knew how to function as a couple with Derek. They had been a seamless pair. Whether it was hospital fundraisers, dinner parties, or just drinks with friends, they were always Derek and Addison.

And now she was with Alex. She didn't know how to be in a public relationship with someone who wasn't Derek. She didn't know what jokes he would tell, what cute stories about their relationship would be okay to share and which ones should remain private.

It was silly. Addison knew it was silly. It was Callie and George. They hadn't been dating much longer than she and Alex had. It wasn't like they'd pass judgment. And even if they did, what would that matter?

Still, she couldn't help but wonder if she and Alex would ever be seamless. She wondered if she and Alex would ever be Alex and Addison, a single unit, the envy of all the other couples they came into contact with. Of course, with the way things with Derek had ended, maybe that wasn't the kind of relationship she should be shooting for.

"You ready to go?"

Addison's nerves calmed as soon as she heard Alex's voice.

"Hey, Babe," Alex said as he approached, placing a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Hey," Addison said with a smile. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"I'm sure we're in for a fun and exciting evening."

Addison slapped Alex lightly on the shoulder. "Drop the sarcasm, Alex. I realize this probably isn't your idea of a great night, but give it a chance. Callie is my friend, and O'Malley is a good guy. If we're actually going to be officially dating and all, it'd be nice to actually go out and do things with other people."

"Okay, okay," Alex said apologetically. "I promise I'll try to get along with them."

Addison smiled. "Thank you, Alex."

\---------

Alex couldn't believe it, but the night was not turning out to be a total disaster. Callie was cool and funny, and George wasn't so bad when he was relaxed instead of being twitchy and nervous. It wasn't the way he'd way he'd want to spend every evening, but it wasn't horrible. The best thing about the night was seeing how much Addison seemed to be enjoying herself. Watching Addison laughing and chatting with Callie made the whole thing worth it.

"So, um, Doctor Montgomery," George began.

Addison shook her head and smiled. "George, please. We're on a double date. You really need to call me Addison. We're not in the hospital right now."

"Right. Addison. I was kind of hoping you could maybe talk to Doctor Sloan."

Addison raised an eyebrow. "Well, Mark's not exactly high on my list of favorite people right now, George. It's not about getting in on a surgery, is it? I didn't think you were interested in Plastics."

"I'm not," George said.

"Then what is it?"

Alex watched George fidget some more. He knew what George wanted to ask about. The more he thought about it, the better an idea it seemed to be. After all, it could help him win 50 bucks.

"George wants you to talk to Sloan about Izzie."

"Stevens? What about her."

Alex grinned. "Apparently he's decided to seduce her."

"What? Are you sure?" Addison asked.

"Well, he kind of admitted it," George explained.

Callie laughed. "What, he just came out and said he was going to try to seduce her?"

"Actually that sounds a lot like something Mark would say," Addison admitted.

"Stevens isn't that stupid, is she?" Callie asked. "I mean, she wouldn't actually fall for him."

Addison shrugged. "Mark can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be."

"Could you do something about it though?" George asked. "I mean, normally I'd say that who Izzie dates is her business, but I'm pretty sure Sloan would just hurt her."

Addison looked to Alex, who nodded.

"Maybe you should say something to him. Or at least give Izzie some warning. After all, she helped us out."

Addison thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. I'll see what I can do."


	23. Chapter 23

"Good morning, Dr. Stevens."

Izzie was standing in line at the coffee cart when she felt a presence behind her, and heard a low voice mere inches from her ear. She rolled her eyes, recognizing the voice almost immediately.

"Go away." Izzie didn't even turn around. She just kept staring at the coffee menu ahead of her, hoping he'd go away.

"You know, that's really not a good way to respond to your superior. I was just saying good morning."

Izzie let out a sigh of frustration. It was obvious he wouldn't go away easily. She turned around and glared at Mark, folding her arms across her chest. She really wanted to wipe the smirk off his face.

"You didn't just say 'good morning,'" Izzie said, lowering her voice so no one would overhear. "You leaned in close behind me and said it all low and quiet and sexily."

To Izzie's ire, Mark's smirk just grew, but he didn't respond.

"What?" Izzie finally asked.

"I just said good morning. You're the one who found it to be sexy."

Izzie's face grew red. "That's not what I meant!"

"Too late," Mark said happily. "You can't take it back now. You find me sexy. Last night I was thinking that maybe I wouldn't be able to seduce you after all, but now I'm very confident I will."

"You won't!" Izzie insisted.

"Sure I won't," Mark said with a wink.

Izzie turned her back to him once again. "I'm not having this conversation here." She stepped forward to place her order. Mark remained silent the entire time, and Izzie was convinced he had decided to drop the issue for now, but when she was walking away, coffee cup in hand, he quickly caught up with her.

"I told you I don't want to talk about this."

"Actually, you said you didn't want to talk about it standing in line for coffee. But we can go some place more private if you'd like. You, me, an empty on-call room, what do you say?"

Izzie stared at him levelly for a moment. "Fine."

Mark blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Really," Izzie said with a nod. "Let's go." Izzie headed for the nearest on-call room, Mark close at her heels.

When they entered the room, Mark quickly pinned Izzie up against the door and leaned in to kiss her, but she smoothly ducked away, slipping under his arms and away from the door.

"I thought you wanted to go some place private," Mark said as he turned around to see her seating primly on the edge of the lower bunk bed.

Izzie rolled her eyes once again. "And I thought that we were going to talk about this. You didn't actually think that you'd be able to get me that easily did you?"

"I kind of did, actually," Mark said, leaning back against the door. "Usually when women agree to meet me in empty rooms, talking is the last thing on their minds."

"I'm not going to have sex with you just so you can get over Addison."

Mark looked at her in shock for a moment. "This doesn't have anything to do with Addison. And who said I just wanted to have sex with you?"

Izzie let out a short laugh. "This has everything to do with Addison, and since when were you interested in anything besides sex? You're the one who said that you wanted to seduce me."

"You're smart, funny, and gorgeous. And when you yelled at me the other day, it was one of the hottest things that I've ever seen. Addison doesn't want me, and that sucks. But the fact that I'm attracted to you has nothing to do with her. Except for the fact that you're both strong, beautiful women who call me on my crap. What can I say, I guess I have a type."

Izzie stared at him for a few seconds before getting to her feet. "You're full of crap. You're hurt over Addison and for some reason you've decided that I'm the one you're going to use to get over her. You might do the meaningless sex thing, Dr. Sloan, but I don't. And even if I did, you're not the person I'd choose to have it with. I'm not going to be a replacement."

Izzie headed for the door, and Mark moved aside. She still felt bad for Mark, but just because she felt guilty didn't mean that she was going to let Dr. Sloan use her. He may be damned attractive, but that was beside the point.

\-------

Mark sat down on the edge of the on-call room bed after Izzie stormed out. This was going to be harder than he thought. With most women, he had to do little more than smile in their direction. Stevens was a challenge, he liked that. And he had been telling the truth before. She was strong and funny and smart. She stood up to him, which was rare in an intern. She had a lot of the qualities that had originally attracted him to Addison. Of course, the downside was that she pretty much seemed to hate him.

There was no doubt about it; Izzie Stevens was definitely a challenge. But that just meant that Mark would have to work harder to get her. After all, he wasn't the type to give up easily.

\--------

"Don't hurt her."

Mark was eating his lunch when Addison appeared at his table. He looked up at her in surprise.

"What are you talking about?"

"Dr. Stevens. Don't hurt her."

"What makes you think I want to hurt her?" Mark asked defensively.

Addison grabbed a chair and sat down across from him.

"I didn't say you wanted to hurt her. But I heard that you told her you wanted to seduce her."

"And?" Mark prompted.

Addison sighed and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Mark, she lost her fiancée a few months ago. She's still hurting. Don't use her."

Mark glared at Addison. "Who the hell said I was planning on using her. I find her attractive, and I told her so. What's wrong with that."

"Mark," Addison said softly, "You never plan on hurting the women you sleep with, but usually end up hurting them anyway. And seducing her because you're hurt that I'm with Alex isn't going to help either of you."

Mark shook his head. "This doesn't have anything to do with you, Addison. Yeah, I'm still pissed that you chose Karev. But I'm moving on. I like Stevens, what's wrong with letting her know that? Hell, practically every doctor in this place is sleeping with an intern." He angrily stood up and grabbed his lunch tray. "And frankly, I don't see where the hell you get off, telling me who I can and can't date."

Addison opened her mouth to argue, but then thought better of it. Instead she watched as Mark stormed off. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. That definitely could have gone better.

"You okay?"

Addison looked up and smiled when she saw Alex standing above her. She motioned for him to sit down.

"Well, I don't think I helped matters where Mark is concerned. Now he's pissed at me for interfering."

"I'm sorry, Addison." Alex reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "We shouldn't have asked you to get involved."

Addison nodded. "It's okay, Alex. I could have said no. But Mark got really defensive. It was weird, actually."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"The last thing he said to me was that I didn't' have any business telling him who he can date. Date. Not sleep with, but date."

"And that's unusual?" Alex asked.

"For Mark? Yeah, I'd say so."

"What, you don't just think he wants to sleep with her?"

"No. I actually think he genuinely likes her."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Addison slowly shook her head. "I have no idea."

\-------


	24. Chapter 24

Izzie stared at her locker, arms crossed over her chest. She had hoped that what she had said to Mark earlier in the day would put a stop to his ridiculous attempt to seduce her, but she was obviously wrong. At the end of a long shift, she had come into the locker room, wanting to get changed as quickly as possible so she could go home and sleep. Instead, there was this.

"What's up?"

Izzie startled a little, turning to see Alex standing beside her.

"Hey, Alex."

"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned. "You were kind of staring into space there."

Izzie shook her head. "Not staring into space." She moved to give Alex a view of her locker door. "I was staring at that."

Alex grimaced at the deep red rose taped to the front of Izzie's locker.

"Tell me that's not from Sloan."

"'Fraid so," Izzie handed Alex the note that had accompanied the flower.

"'I don't give up that easily,'" Alex read aloud, rolling his eyes. "Wow, he seems pretty determined."

"Seriously," Izzie replied. "It seems like a hell of a lot of work to do just to just someone into bed, doesn't it?"

Alex shrugged his shoulders, debating whether or not he should tell her Addison's theory.

"What is it?" Izzie asked, noting Alex's silence.

"Well," Alex began, deciding she had a right to know. "Addison thinks that it isn't just a sex thing. She believes that he really likes you."

Izzie blinked in surprise. "Really? Do you think she's right?"

Alex just shook his head. "I have no idea. But nobody knows Sloan better than Addison, with the possible exception of Shepherd. She talked to him about him going after you, and he got really defensive."

Izzie groaned. "She talked to him about it? That's not at all embarrassing."

"Hey, she thought she was doing you a favor. After all, we both owe you for forcing us to admit how we felt about each other. She was worried about you getting hurt. You're my friend, and her intern. She cares about you."

Izzie smiled softly. "She's pretty great, isn't she?"

Alex nodded, unable to keep a grin off his face. "Yeah, she really is."

Izzie's smile widened, pleased to see Alex so happy. But her smile faded when she caught another glimpse of the rose on her locker door.

"What am I going to do, Alex? I don't want to hurt Sloan. He may be a jerk, but he's been hurt enough lately."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

Izzie snorted. "Thanks for the offer, Alex. But that strikes me as a rather bad idea. If he got angry with Addison for interfering, I can only imagine what he'd do to you."

Alex gave her a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, you're probably right. Hey, Addison and I are headed to Joe's, you want to come?"

Izzie shook her head. "No, thanks. I just want to go home and take a hot bath."

"Okay," Alex leaned over and gave Izzie a quick kiss on the forehead. "Don't get too stressed out about Sloan, okay? The guy seems to go through women pretty quick, eventually he'll move on."

"Thanks you, Alex. Have a good time, I'll see you tomorrow."

Alex said goodbye and Izzie watched him leave. Once she was alone in the locker room she reached out and pulled the flower from the locker front. She had to admit, it was beautiful. She brought it close, breathing in its heady scent.

She couldn't help but wonder if Addison was right about Sloan's feelings. Izzie had been convinced that he was only concerned about getting her into bed. He seemed like the kind of guy who enjoyed the chase, especially when the girl put up a fight.

But maybe he really did have feelings for her. Where did that leave her then? She had told Mark that meaningless sex didn't appeal to her at this point in her life, and that was true. What she wanted was a real relationship, even if she still wasn't quite sure if she was ready to move on.

And even if she were ready, it certainly wouldn't be with Mark. Izzie may have gotten a glimpse of the guy beneath all the bravado, but he was still a jerk most of the time. He was definitely not the kind of guy she wanted to get involved with, Izzie firmly told herself. He just wasn't. Right?

\-------

"Hey, Babe."

Alex gave Addison quick kiss as he slid onto the seat next to hers at Joe's. "Sorry I'm late. I was talking to Izzie about Sloan."

Addison sighed and took a long sip of her drink. "Don't tell me that something else happened."

Alex gratefully took the beer that Joe had slid in front of him. "He taped a rose to her locker.

"Oh my god."

"Yeah, left a note with it to. It said something about not giving up easily."

"I really think he must like her. This isn't the kind of thing Mark would do if he were just after sex."

"So," Alex asked, "How do we get him to back off?"

Addison shrugged. "Who says we do anything?"

Alex's expression darkened. "I thought you didn't want to see Izzie hurt."

"Of course I don't want to see her hurt!" Addison protested. "And when I thought he was just trying to seduce her, I was willing to intervene. But I told you how pissed off he got. I've been thinking about it all day, and he wouldn't have gotten so defensive if he didn't have some serious feelings for her."

"Who cares whether he really likes her or not? He's a jerk, and she's going to get hurt. She deserves to have a good guy."

Addison sighed again. "Mark isn't all that bad, Alex."

Alex just stared at her for a moment. "What are you talking about? He slept with you, his best friend's wife, and then when you two were living together, he cheated on you!"

"Alex, calm down," Addison urged. "You don't know Mark the way I do. I'm not saying he's perfect, he's not. But what happened between him and me...we just weren't meant to work out. I'm not saying I wasn't hurt when he cheated, of course I was. But underneath it all, Mark is a really great guy. And if he finally finds the right person, that could really shine."

"And what if Izzie isn't that person?" Alex asked. "What if he does the same thing to her that he did to you?"

"Alex, Izzie knows that happened. She'd be going into the relationship with her eyes open." Addison shook her head. "But it's stupid for us to even be talking about that. Izzie doesn't seem to be showing interest in him, so what does it matter?"

"It matters because Sloan is a charming guy, and Izzie is vulnerable. She could actually fall under his spell. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Izzie and Mark are both adults, Alex. What they do is their own business."

"Not if I tell Webber that Sloan is harassing Izzie."

Addison rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? Alex, if Izzie feels harassed, she'll go to Webber. Izzie seems more than capable of taking care of herself. I understand that she's you friend, but you need to drop this."

"I'm not going to drop it!" Alex was practically yelling. "I'm not going to let Mark hurt her?"

"You mean like you hurt her?" Addison asked pointedly.

Alex's eyes flashed with anger, and he pushed his beer aside, getting to his feet.

"Alex," Addison began, but Alex cut her off.

"Screw you, Addison. If you're not willing to help, I'll do it my damned self." Alex grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the bar.

Addison sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes. Why did everything always have to be so complicated?

\-------


	25. Chapter 25

"Do you want to go get drunk?"

Izzie had been sitting on the living room couch, absent-mindedly knitting a scarf. She startled slightly at the sound of Meredith's voice.

"What?"

Meredith flopped onto the couch next to her. "Cristina is spending time with Burke, George is staying over at Callie's, Alex is out with Addison and I'm currently not speaking to Derek. I'm bored, I'm miserable, and I want to do something. Let's go get drunk."

Izzie sighed and set her knitting down. "Mer, I'm in my sweats and slippers. I don't really want to go anywhere."

Meredith wrinkled her nose. "Fine." She paused for a moment before saying, "Do you want to get drunk here instead?"

Izzie grinned. "That sounds like a very good idea. You dig out the booze, I'll go order us a pizza."

Meredith returned her smile. "Then we can bitch about our respective love-lives."

"Okay," Izzie agreed. "But we better have a whole lotta booze."

\------

Izzie and Meredith were just starting to get tipsy when the doorbell rang.

"Oh!" Izzie exclaimed. "Pizza. I'll get it." She grabbed her wallet off the coffee table and hurried to the door, looking forward to eating some hot, greasy junk food. When she opened the door, however, the smile on her face fell.

"Doctor Shepherd," she said stonily, crossing her arms over her chest.

Derek ran a hand through his hair and offered Izzie a nervous smile. "Is Meredith here?"

"I don't think she wants to talk to you," Izzie replied.

Derek let out a sigh. "Would you at least ask her?"

Izzie glared at him a moment longer before turning to call over her shoulder. "Meredith, Derek wants to know you'll talk to him."

"No!" Came the nearly instantaneous reply.

"Told you," Izzie said as she began to close the door in Derek's face.

Derek reached out to stop the door from closing, and pushed it open further, coming inside.

"She said she didn't want to talk to you!" Izzie protested. But Derek ignored her completely.

"Meredith," he called out.

Meredith appeared in the doorway, her arms crossed, a sour expression on her face. "I said I didn't want to talk to you."

"We need to talk, Meredith. You can't just ignore me forever."

"I can try."

Derek smiled slightly and stepped closer to her. He wrinkled her nose when he caught the scent on her breath. "Are you drunk?" he asked.

"I'm certainly trying," Meredith replied.

"I want to make this right. What can I do to make this right?"

Meredith studied him for a long moment. "I don't know if you can, Derek."

A look of surprise crossed Derek's face. "What?"

Meredith sighed. "You're still hung up on your wife, Derek. The wife who should be your ex-wife by now. But she isn't. And I'm sick of being the dirty mistress. I'm sick of you being more concerned about Addison's love life than ours.

"Meredith," Derek tried to interrupt.

"No. If you can't prove to me, and yourself, that you're really completely over your wife and ready to start a real relationship with me, then I don't want anything more to do with you."

Derek shook his head. He reached out to stroke her face, but she flinched back and he faltered slightly.

"I think you should go now," Izzie spoke up from the living room.

"Okay," Derek said, realizing he wouldn't get anywhere right now. "I'll go. But, I'll make this right, Meredith."

Meredith just looked at him, tears in her eyes, "I really wish I could believe that."

With one last sigh, Derek turned and walked silently out of the house.

Izzie turned to Meredith, a sympathetic smile on her face. "Time to get seriously drunk now?"

Meredith nodded fiercely. "Seriously."

\----------

Addison was sitting in her hotel room feeling miserable and alone. She had thought about calling Alex to apologize, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't want to talk to her. And truth be told, she wasn't sure how much she really wanted to talk to him.

She was pissed that he was so wrapped up in the Mark and Izzie situation. And she was also mad that he had just walked away from her like that. She regretted mentioning him sleeping with Olivia, but she hadn't' said it to hurt him. She had been trying to point out that he was being overprotective. She hadn't thought about the fact that he might take it so badly.

She sighed deeply as she stepped out of her wet clothes and wrapped herself in a bathrobe as she waited for the bathtub to fill. She hoped that a hot bath would help her relax, but she was having some doubts. She just wanted to put the fight out of her mind. She hated that she was fighting with Alex already. But she knew that things couldn't be perfect forever.

The real question was whether Alex would be able to put this behind them easily. First fights were tricky things. It was a make-or-break moment. She wanted to have faith that Alex would be able to move past this. It hadn't even been that big of a fight. But she just wasn't sure.

She heard a knock on the door and looked up eagerly. It had to be Alex. She went to the door and looked out the peephole. The hopeful smile fell from her face as she tied the bathrobe tighter around her and opened the door, revealing a very wet and miserable looking man.

"What are you doing here, Derek?"

\-------------

Alex was angry, tired and cold. He had decided to walk back to his apartment after leaving Addison at the bar following their fight. He thought it would help him let off some steam. Unfortunately it had started to rain, and he had quickly gotten drenched to the bone.

He just wanted to get home and go to sleep. Actually, what he really wanted to do was go to Addison's hotel room and go to sleep.

He was still mad at her, but he wanted to be with her anyway. He didn't quite no what to make of it. His relationships didn't usual make it past the first fight. Then again, he had been fighting with Addison for a while now. If it hadn't stopped them for starting a relationship, why should it end their relationship?

Yeah, she had defended Sloan. That pissed him off. Not to mention confused the hell out of him. Alex just didn't understand how she could stand up for that jerk. But it was her remark about him hurting Izzie that crossed the line for him. He couldn't believe she had thrown it in his face like that. Yeah, it was true. He had hurt Izzie. And he did regret it. It probably was part of the reason he now felt so protective of her. But Addison had been wrong to bring it up like that. He wouldn't throw Addison's affair in her face.

Actually, Alex had to admit to himself that probably wasn't true. He often said some pretty hurtful things to people when he got angry. He supposed that he couldn't get too angry with Addison for a fault that he shared. And he was also pretty sure that Addison hadn't said it to hurt him, not really.

Showing up at Addison's hotel room was sounding more and more appealing. He could fix things now, rather than spending a horrible night alone thinking about how much he needed to fix things. He could have a hot shower, they could order room service, and then they could have really good make-up sex.

She had given him a key to her hotel room earlier. They often worked different schedules, and she had wanted him to be able to get into the room if he got off before her or after she was in bed for the night. He was quite sure of the etiquette of showing up unannounced after they had a fight. But if he was there to apologize, he didn't think it'd be a problem.

His decision made, Alex hailed a cab and head toward Addison's hotel. He actually was almost looking forward to this. He was optimistic that they'd be able to get over this bump. The more he thought about the fight the more he realized it wasn't that big. Yeah, he had told her to go screw herself, but he'd make up for it. And they'd work out their differences of opinion on the Mark and Izzie situation. Couples didn't have to agree on absolutely everything after all.

He took the elevator to her floor and quickly walked down the hall to her room. He slipped his keycard into the door and gave a silent prayer that she'd be awake.

Alex had prepared himself for the fact that she might be angry. He was prepared for a fight, even if he didn't want one.

But he wasn't prepared for her to not be alone.

Addison was asleep on the bed.

And Derek was asleep beside her.

\-------------


	26. Chapter 26

-The Next Morning-

Alex slammed the door of his locker closed just as Izzie and Meredith were entering the locker room. Both women winced at the loud noise.

"Jesus, Alex," Izzie said. "What's wrong?"

Alex whirled around to look at them and Izzie was taken aback. She had never seen Alex look so angry before. She exchanged a concerned glance with Meredith.

"Are you okay?" Meredith asked worriedly.

"No," Alex said through gritted teeth. "I'd saw I'm pretty goddamned far from okay."

"What happened?" Izzie asked.

"Your boyfriend," Alex began, stabbing a finger in Meredith's direction, "slept with my girlfriend. That's what happened."

Izzie gasped and Meredith looked like she had been slapped.

"No way," Izzie murmured.

Meredith sat down hard on a bench, looking up at Alex with tears in her eyes. "You're kidding me, right? I mean, you have to be kidding me."

Alex shook his head, his jaw set. "Addison and I had a fight last night. I went over to her hotel to work things out. I found her asleep, with Shepherd by her side."

"What'd you do?" Izzie asked.

"I didn't do anything. I turned around and walked out. They didn't even wake up."

"This can't be happening," Meredith said. "It can't. He told me he was going to make this right. He said he wanted to fix things between us."

"Well, your boyfriend's a lying, scummy bastard. And my girlfriend's a heinous bitch."

"What are you going to do?" Izzie asked Alex with concern as she sat down next to Meredith and put her arm around her friend's shoulder.

"I'm going to kill Shepherd, that's what I'm going to do."

Meredith looked up at him with wide eyes. "Alex, you can't hurt him!"

Alex scoffed. "You can't really care if I do, do you? He just cheated on you!"

Meredith shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant. Hell, I want to punch him myself. But you can't. You'll get kicked out of the program."

"It'd be worth it," Alex insisted.

Again, Meredith shook her head. "No. It wouldn't. He's not worth it. They aren't worth it. Let's just make it through the day and then we can go to the bar and drown our sorrow in lots and lots of liquor."

\--------------

Izzie and Meredith were standing at the Nurses' Station, talking about the case they had been assigned to with Burke when Derek approached, an apprehensive smile on his face.

He held out a Styrofoam cup in Meredith's direction. "Coffee?" he asked hopefully. "I got it just how you like it."

Meredith just stared at him. "Seriously? Coffee? You think coffee is going to fix things?"

Derek shrugged sheepishly. "I thought it was a good first step. I mean, I know it's just coffee. But I thought we could maybe start over."

"You have got to be kidding me."

Derek gave her a searching stare, a slight look of confusion on his face. "Meredith, I know you mad, but I thought you were going to let me try to fix this."

Meredith just glared at him. "After what you did? There's nothing left to fix. Just go back to Addison, she's obviously the one you really want."

Derek reached out and grabbed Meredith's arm. "What are you talking about? You're the one I want to be with. Not Addison."

Meredith snorted. "Either you're a liar, or you're more disgusting then I ever thought possible. Either way, I don't want anything to do with you." Meredith jerked out of Derek's grasp and headed down the hall at a quick pace.

Derek moved to go after her, but Izzie stepped in front of him. She leaned right into his face. "Leave Meredith alone," Izzie said, her voice low but deadly. "Leave her alone, or I swear to god, I'll punch you in the face myself." With a final glare at Derek she turned on her heel and hurried after Meredith.

\---------

"Alex!"

Alex heard his name called out, but ignored it. He was in no mood to talk right now. Instead, he continued down the stairway.

He heard the rapid approach of footsteps and stopped when he felt a hand on his arm.

"Alex, I was hoping we could talk."

Alex turned around to face Addison, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, I really don't want to talk to you."

Addison sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Alex, I'm sorry. I never should have made that comment about your relationship with Izzie. But it was just an argument. We can work it out."

Alex just glared at her. "You really are pathetic, you know that, Addison?"

Addison's expression quickly went from apologetic to hurt. "What?"

"I have no desire to work anything out with you. In fact, I have no desire to every speak to you again. So just go back to Shepherd. Or Sloan. It's pretty damned obvious you're not over either of them."

Hurt in turn quickly changed to anger. "God, Alex, what the hell is wrong with you? We have one fight and you decide never to speak to me again? I was hoping we could work things out, but I suppose that'd require you to actually act like an adult for once in your life."

"Don't you dare give me on advice or maturity, Addison."

Addison scoffed. "You know what, Karev? Screw you. I knew I shouldn't have ever gotten involved with an intern. Especially not a jackass like you." Addison stormed down the last few steps and through the door to the second floor.

Alex cursed loudly and slammed his fist into the wall.

\-----------

Mark was trying to get a few minutes of sleep in the on-call room when the door slammed open and a very pissed off Izzie Stevens entered the room and threw herself down on a bed.

Mark stuck his head down from the top bunk and gave the blonde a curious look. "What the hell's the matter with you?"

Izzie let out a groan and pulled a pillow over her head. "Go away!"

"Hey, I was in here first," Mark protested.

Izzie removed the pillow from her face and looked up at him. "Fine. Then you just leave me alone and let me lie here and peace and dream up ways to kill your best friends."

The plural on the end of that sentence didn't escape Mark's notice. "Friends? As in not just Derek? I'm not surprised to hear that you're pissed at him, that's nothing new there. But what did Addison do to incur your wrath? I mean, I'm assuming it's Addison you're talking about, right?"

"Do you have any other friends?" Izzie asked coldly.

"Jesus," Mark said. "You're in a mood today. So what happened?"

"I think I've made it clear that I'm not interested in talking to you."

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "But that was before you told me you were thinking of ways to kill two people I care about. I want details. You were all excited about getting Addison and Alex together, so what changed?

Izzie sighed, but otherwise remained quiet.

"You know I'm just going to keep bothering you until you tell me, right? You can confide in me. We're practically dating, after all."

"What?!" Izzie sat up, almost hitting her head on the bed above her. "What are you talking about? We are not even remotely together. We are never going to be together. Ever."

"Whatever," Mark said dismissively. "Just tell me what Addison and Derek did that was so horrible."

Izzie had pulled the pillow back over her face and Mark couldn't make out her response.

"What?" he asked.

Izzie removed the pillow and spoke again. "Derek and Addison had sex last night."

Mark nearly fell off the bed in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Alex and Addison had a fight last night. Alex went over to her hotel room to apologize later and found them in bed together. They were asleep and apparently didn't even wake up when he came in. He just turned right around and left."

Mark swore. "I can't fucking believe it."

"And then Derek had the nerve to come up to Meredith today like nothing had ever happened. Giving her coffee and talking about how he wanted to start over. I can't believe I ever thought he was a good guy. I really should have punched him. The look in Meredith's eyes when Alex told us...And I've never seen Alex so angry before."

"It doesn't make any sense," Mark said. "As much as I hate to admit it, Addison seemed to really like Alex. And she and Derek...they were beyond finished. What the hell happened?"

Izzie shrugged. "I have no idea. But they hurt two people that I really care about. And I can't help but feel guilty about it."

"Why would you feel guilty?" Mark asked.

"I'm the one who pushed Addison and Alex together, Mark. If I hadn't done that, Alex wouldn't be heart-broken right now. I just wanted him to be happy, and now he's worse off than ever." Izzie angrily brushed tears off her cheeks.

Mark slide off his bed and crouched next to Izzie. "Hey," he said softly, "this isn't your fault. You couldn't have expected this to happen. No one could have. You were just trying to do something good for a friend."

He grabbed a tissue from a box on the nearby table and reached out, gently brushing the tears from her cheeks. "You have nothing to feel guilty about, alright? Derek and Addison are the guilty parties here. Not you. Okay? I wasn't happy about you getting the two of them together, but what's happened since that moment isn't your responsibility. Jesus, even I feel bad for Karev. He didn't deserve this. But you have no reason to feel guilty. None at all."

Izzie bit her lip and nodded. She met Mark's gaze for a moment, then turned away, embarrassed. "Thank you," she murmured. "And you were right before?"

"About what?" Mark asked.

Izzie smiled softly. "You really are a good guy."

\------------

\------------


	27. Chapter 27

-The Night Before-

She heard a knock on the door and looked up eagerly. It had to be Alex. She went to the door and looked out the peephole. The hopeful smile fell from her face as she tied the bathrobe tighter around her and opened the door, revealing a very wet and miserable looking man.

"What are you doing here, Derek?"

"Can I come in?" Derek asked. "We really need to talk."

Addison sighed. She really didn't want to talk to Derek right now, but he looked desperate, and he was soaked to the bone. She stood aside and motioned for Derek to come in, closing the door after him.

Although the last time they had actually talked had left Addison hopeful that he was done being angry and possessive over the Alex thing, she had heard about Derek yelling at Izzie. She hadn't talked about it with him, but she wasn't happy.

"It's late Derek."

Derek nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have come. It's just...I don't know. I was at Meredith's and she said some things...and along with what Izzie Stevens said to me earlier...I want to work things out. I mean, really work things out. But you're right; it's late. If you want, I can leave."

Addison stared at him for a long time. "You're shivering," she said at last.

Derek shrugged. "It's raining."

"Did you walk here?" Addison asked.

"Yeah."

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Yeah."

Addison rolled her eyes. She shook her head and walked into the bathroom. Coming back out, she threw a robe at Derek.

"Here. Change into that."

Derek caught the robe, but just looked at it, confused. "What?"

"Take off your wet clothes and change into the robe. I'll have housekeeping dry your stuff while we talk. Hell, take a hot shower first if you want, it'd probably be good for you."

Derek shook his head. "I'm fine, really."

Addison put a hand on her hip. "Derek, you're not fine. You're so cold your shaking. You're also dripping water all over my floor. Just go in the bathroom and change into the damned robe already, it's not like I'm going to jump into the shower with you or anything."

Derek smiled sheepishly and nodded. "Okay. I think I will take a hot shower, but just a fast one. Then we can talk."

"Oh joy," Addison muttered as Derek went into the bathroom and shut the door. She walked over to the mini-bar and pulled out two small bottles of Jack Daniels and two cans of Coke.

Addison filled two glasses with ice cubes remaining from the ice bucket she filled earlier. She poured in the Coke and the alcohol. Then, after pausing for a moment, she added more Jack Daniels to each glass. The drinks were stronger then she'd usually make them, but she suspected that it'd be necessary for the oncoming conversation.

With a deep sigh Addison sat down on the side of the bed, crossing her legs and taking a swig of her drink. She still wasn't sure why Derek was here. She probably should have just sent him on his way, but he had just looked so damned miserable it had pulled at her heart. She had to admit that her curiosity had been peaked as well. Derek was obviously pretty desperate to talk to her if he had come over here so late at night, and in the middle of a storm.

She heard the shower turn off and a few moments later the door opened and Derek stepped out, wrapped in the robe she had given him. She couldn't help but smile when she saw him. He was wet from the shower, his hair tousled from the towel he had run through it. He returned her smile and she felt a stab of regret for everything she had lost. For everything _they_ had lost.

Addison's smile faltered and she cleared her throat. "I poured you a drink," she said, pointing at the glass resting on the tabletop. "Let me call down to the front desk to deal with your clothes. Then we can have this talk you seem so eager about."

Derek smiled a little and picked up his drink. "Thank you, Addison. But I wouldn't say eager so much as determined."

\-------------

A few minutes later, after Housekeeping had picked up the clothes to be dried, Addison stood and poured herself another drink.

"Okay, Derek," she said softly. "Let's do this. Tell me what was so important that you had to talk to me tonight."

Derek sighed and ran hand through his still damp hair. "I know that I told you I was going to get over this whole thing with Alex. That I was going to be an adult and not interfere with your relationship."

"Yes, you did." Addison said simply.

"But the fact is," Derek continued. "I broke my promise. I went off on Izzie Stevens when I heard that she had pushed you and Alex together."

"I know that, Derek."

Derek blinked in surprise, then nodded. He shouldn't be surprised, not really. Gossip spread through the hospital like wildfire, and surely Izzie would have told her friends what had happened. Word had probably gotten to Alex, and he had told Addison.

"I know that I shouldn't have. It was stupid. Not to mention mean and unfair. But she said something to me. Something that stuck with me."

Addison raised an eyebrow. "And what was that, exactly?"

"She said I was still mad at you." Derek took a long sip of his drink. "She said that's why I can't get over this thing with Alex. She said I don't want you to be happy."

Addison crossed her arms over her chest. "Is she right?"

Derek sat down hard on a nearby chair. "I'm still angry with you, Addison. But not for the reason Izzie thinks."

"What do you mean?"

"She thinks I'm still angry about the affair. But that's not it. I'm angry with you because our marriage ended."

Addison stared at him for a long moment, considering his words. "I'm not really seeing the difference, Derek."

Derek looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at her with a piercing gaze.

"I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with you. You were the first woman I ever loved. You were the woman I wanted to have a family with. To grow old with. The affair made me angry, of course. But what keeps me angry is the future that I lost because of it."

Addison felt her throat grow tight. "Derek, it didn't have to be the end of everything. You're the one who decided to leave rather than work things out."

Derek nodded somberly. "I know that. I know. But I couldn't...I couldn't deal with it Addison. I couldn't work things out. When I saw you with Mark, I saw my entire future fall apart. I saw my dreams falling through my fingers. I couldn't go back after that." He saw the look on Addison face and held up a hand. "I know there were reasons you cheated. I know that things between us...they had been bad. I wasn't around. I took you for granted. I know that. But that doesn't stop me from being angry with you. In fact, I think it made it worse, because I didn't want to admit that part of it was my fault."

"I--" Addison began, then sighed. "I just don't know what to say to that."

Derek shook his head, his eyes shinning with tears. "I know."

Addison brushed tears from her face and Derek moved from the chair to the bed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Addison. For my part in everything that happened. I'm sorry I ignored you for so long, I'm sorry I left, I'm sorry about Meredith, I'm sorry I didn't give our marriage a real try when I said I would, I'm sorry about prom night, I'm sorry I've been such a jerk about Alex...I'm sorry about everything."

Addison rested her head on Derek's shoulder. "I am too, Derek. I'm so sorry."

They sat in silence for a long moment, then Addison spoke.

"We're pretty screwed up, aren't we?"

Derek let out a laugh. "We certainly are."

There was another long pause.

"You do deserve to be happy, Addison. I know that. I want you to be happy. I think Alex just made me realize that I never got over you, not really. I moved on. I fell in love. But I never dealt with my feelings for you. Leaving like I did..." Derek trailed off, then began again. "If I had stayed and tried to work things out, I still don't know if we could have saved our marriage, but at least we would have been able to work things out, to really deal with everything. I just tried to forget that you existed, rather than trying process that fact that even if I'm not with you, I'll always love you."

Addison moved away from him suddenly, a confused look on her face. "What?"

Derek shook his head. "No, I'm not still in love with you. But you were my wife for eleven years. You were the love of my life. You're always going to have a place in my heart. I've been trying to lie to myself about that for a long time, but it's true."

Addison smiled sadly. "I'll always love you too, Derek. And I'll always regret what happened. I'll always regret losing you. I still want you in my life, Derek. I still want you as a friend. But we both need to move on. Really move on. I think finally signing the divorce papers might help."

Derek looked at her and brushed a stray piece of hair off her face. "You'll always have a place in my life, Addison. And your friendship would mean the world to me."

Addison just smiled. For the first time in a long time, she really felt that she and Derek could have a positive future together, even if it was a friends rather than husband and wife.

"You really do love him, don't you?" Derek asked softly.

Addison's eyes widened in surprise at the question, but after a moment she nodded. "I'm starting to. I know I haven't been seeing him for long, but being with him...I'm happier than I've been in a long time. I really do think that we could have a future together."

Derek laughed gently. "Who would have thought it? Our marriage falls apart and we both in up in love with interns."

"Interns we're currently fighting with." Addison added.

Derek looked at Addison in surprise. "What are you and Karev fighting about?"

In spite of herself, Addison smiled. "Oh this one is great," she began getting up and going to the mini-bar. "Trust me, you'll want another drink for this one." She chuckled as she began mixing drinks. "We were arguing about Mark."

"Don't tell me Alex thinks you still have feelings for him."

Addison grinned and handed Derek his drink. "Mark has apparently set his sights on Doctor Stevens."

Derek nearly choked on his drink. "You've got to be kidding me."

Addison shrugged. "I think he actually might be serious about her. He doesn't seem to just want to get her into bed."

"Dear god," Derek shook his head. "That's going to end in disaster."

"You think so? I thought so at first, but now I'm not so sure. Stevens can handle herself pretty well."

Derek nodded emphatically. "Trust me, I know Izzie can handle herself. I've faced the full brunt of her displeasure. It was not a fun experience. I think it's Mark whose going to find himself in trouble. He might be biting off more than he can chew with this one."

"I think she could be good for him," Addison said. "And as much as the two of us might be loathe to admit it, deep down Mark is as pretty good guy."

Derek grimaced, but nodded. "Well, when he's not sleeping with his best friend's wife anyway."

Addison shot him a glare, but continued. "Anyway, Alex doesn't want Mark anywhere near his friend. He said that Mark will hurt her, and I made a comment about how Alex had hurt her himself."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, he didn't take it too well. He told me to screw myself and stormed out of the bar."

"He'll get over it," Derek said dismissively. "You're in a better place with Karev right now than I am with Meredith."

Addison was glad she had a drink in her hand if the conversation was going to turn in that direction. "You'll make things better with Meredith," she said. "I think this was a good start, the two of us finally really talking everything out. I think the divorce papers will be a weight off her mind as well. She loves you Derek; anyone can see that. And you love her."

Derek nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Addison smiled. "Well, we both have a lot of work to do, but I think we're going to be okay."

"I hope so."

Addison set down her drink and flopped back down onto the bed, lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling. "Nothing like giving romantic advice to your ex-husband."

Derek lay back next to her, a smile on his face. "I'm actually kind of proud of us that we can talk about it."

"It's nice isn't it?" Addison hadn't realized just how much she missed her friendship with Derek.

The two continued to talk for a long time, occasional lengthy pauses filling the room. Addison was pleasantly surprised that even the silences weren't uncomfortable. After one particularly long lull in conversation she looked over to see that Derek's eyes were closed, his breathing slowed.

Addison thought about waking him, then caught sight of the clock. It was almost four in the morning. They both had to be at the hospital in just a few hours. By the time he woke up, got back into his clothes and got a cab back to his place, he'd hardly have any time to sleep. She'd just let him be. They had both an exhausting night.

Pulling a cover over herself and Derek, Addison turned on her side and went to sleep. The night had turned out to be a good one. She couldn't wait to go to work in a few hours and work everything out with Alex.

\----------


	28. Chapter 28

Addison was sitting at a table in the cafeteria, morosely picking at the salad in front of her, when a tray slammed down on the table. She looked up to see Derek angrily pulling out the chair across from her and sitting down.

She raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. "I take it I'm not the only one having a bad day, then?"

"Are all women insane?" Derek asked.

Addison sighed. "Problems with Meredith today?"

Derek shook his head in frustration. "I don't understand it at all. I mean, I knew she was still mad at me, but when I went over there yesterday she seemed willing to let me try to make it right, even if she wasn't sure that I could. Then today I bring her a cup of coffee and she completely freaks out on me. Started going on about how she didn't want anything to do with me and that it was obviously that you were obviously the one I really wanted to be with."

Addison narrowed her eyes. "You know, it's weird. Alex went off on me earlier too. I went to apologize for our argument and he bit my head off. He said that it was obvious that I wasn't over you or Mark."

"What do you think happened?"

Addison shook her head. "I have no idea."

"Something must have happened."

Addison shrugged. "I don't even know if I care at this point. If Alex is going to be a complete dick every time we have an argument this relationship isn't going to work."

Derek sighed and nodded. "I really thought that Meredith had matured beyond this sort of thing, you know? I told her I wanted to try to start over, I told her I wanted to make things right, and then she goes crazy on me all over again. She's so emotionally stunted when it comes to relationships. But I don't get why she suddenly decided overnight to night even give me a chance." He took a sip of his coffee and looked across at Addison. "You know that Izzie Stevens threatened to punch me in the face if I didn't leave Meredith alone?"

Addison's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? God, what did you do to bring that on?"

Derek shrugged. "As far as I can tell, I brought Meredith coffee. I mean, that's the first that I had seen her since I talked to her last night."

"That's it," Addison announced. "I'm done. I completely wash my hands of relationships. I'm just going to become a spinster."

Derek grinned ruefully. "You'll have to get cats."

Addison wrinkled her noise. "I don't want cats."

Derek shrugged. "You won't have a choice. You can't be a spinster without cats. Several of them, actually."

Addison let out a sigh. "I guess I need a different plan then."

Derek laughed. "I'm sure you'll come up with something. You're very resourceful," he said with a wink.

\----------

Across the cafeteria, Izzie stood tray in hand, glaring at Derek and Addison.

"You okay?"

Izzie turned to see Mark was now standing beside her. She nodded in the direction of Derek and Addison's table.

"Look at them," she said bitterly. "Sitting and laughing with each other like they don't have a care in the world."

Mark shook his head. "I have to say, I'm surprised they're being so blatant about it."

"It's disgusting," Izzie complained.

"What's disgusting?"

Meredith had come up beside her, and Izzie immediately tried to change the subject.

"Nothing," she covered. "We were just talking about the food choices today."

But Meredith followed Mark's gaze and a dark look crossed her face.

"They're eating lunch together."

Izzie bit her lip. "Why don't we go outside, Meredith."

Meredith shook her head. "I guess they aren't even bothering to hide it anymore, huh? Why'd he even go through the charade of bringing me coffee this morning?"

Izzie put a hand on Meredith's shoulder, and pushed her gently in the direction of the doors. 'Come on, Mer. Cristina and George already have a table out in the courtyard." She turned to Mark, shooting him a questioning look. "You want to have lunch with us?"

Mark look tempted, but ultimately shook his head. "No. I want to go have a little conversation with our lovebirds over there."

Izzie nodded and led Meredith outside while Mark made his way to Addison and Derek's table.

"George said he saw McDreamy eating lunch with Dr. Montgomery," Cristina said when Izzie and Meredith arrived at the table. "What's up with that?"

Izzie shook her head vigorously at Cristina behind Meredith's back, but it was too late. Meredith groaned and sank into a chair.

"Okay, I'm officially calling a ban to referring to him McDreamy," Meredith announced.

"What can we call him?" Cristina asked.

"McJerk?" Meredith suggested. "McAsshole? How about McSleeps-With-His-Wife-the-Same-Night-He-Tells-Me-He's-Going-to-Fix-Our-Relationship?"

"Wow," George muttered.

"Are you serious?" Cristina asked.

Izzie nodded. "Apparently Alex walked in on them in bed together last night."

"Are you okay?" George asked Meredith.

"Not really," Meredith said bitterly. "I just don't get it. You know, I actually believed him last night when he told me he wanted to try to fix things between us."

"We're going out to get drunk after we get off tonight," Izzie told Cristina and George. 'You guys up for it? Alex already said he's in."

"Of course," Cristina agreed.

"I had plans with Callie, but she'll understand if I cancel," George said.

"Good," Meredith said. "Because all I want to do tonight is forget that I ever met Derek Shepherd."

\----------

"Well, well, well," Mark began as he took a seat at Addison and Derek's table. "Don't you two look like the happy little couple."

Derek and Addison exchanged glances.

"Shut up, Mark." Addison said mildly. "Derek and I have decided to give friendship a try. I thought you'd be happy that we were being civil to one another again."

Mark snorted. "Civil is one thing. You two sleeping with each other is something else."

Derek nearly spit out his coffee. "What the hell are you talking about, Mark?"

"No use pretending, Derek. I know."

Addison narrowed her eyes. "Don't be stupid. Just because we're finally getting along again doesn't mean we're sleeping together."

"Maybe not," Mark said with a shrug. "But Karev walking in on you too in bed together does."

"What!" Derek exclaimed.

Addison looked confused, but then it hit her. "Oh my god," she muttered.

"Addison?" Derek asked.

"I gave Alex a key to my hotel room." She groaned. "He must have come by last night."

"Damn it," Derek said. "He must have said something to Meredith. That's why she was so pissed at me this morning."

"Seems like a pretty good reason to me," Mark said.

"Shut up, Mark," Addison and Derek said in unison.

"Hey, don't be mad at me," Mark said. "I'm not the one who cheated this time."

Addison glared at him. "We didn't have sex last night, Mark."

"Sure you didn't."

"We didn't!" Derek insisted. "I went over to Addison's to talk. To finally really work things out between us. We got to talking, and I was there pretty late."

"So naturally the next step was to have sex, right?" Mark asked sarcastically.

"Mark!" Addison admonished. "We didn't have sex. He just slept there. It was late. We were both exhausted and had surgeries in the morning."

Mark looked between Addison and Derek. Finally he let out a low whistle. "You guys are actually seriously aren't you? You really did just sleep."

"Yes!" Addison said firmly.

"Wow." Mark shook his head. "Well you two better talk to Grey and Karev, because they are really pissed at the two of you."

"Thanks, Mark," Derek said sarcastically. "I think we got that part."

"Now what do we do?" Addison asked Derek.

"I have no idea. There's no way they're going to believe us."

"I can't believe it," Addison said, "but this day actually just got worse."

Mark grinned roughly and shook his head. "Face it. You two are totally screwed."

\-----


	29. Chapter 29

"Next round!" Izzie announced to her fellow interns as she set down a number of shot glasses on the table and reclaimed her seat.

"Thank god," Alex said, reaching out for one of the shots. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so miserable. He never should have gotten involved with Addison. Making out with her in supply closets, fine. But a real relationship? He should have known better. He had spent most of the day avoiding Addison, knowing Meredith had done the same with Shepherd.

"This is all your fault, you know," Alex said with a look at Izzie.

Meredith rolled her eyes as she grabbed her own glass, downing the shot. "I think Addison and Derek might bear some of the blame, Alex."

"Sure," Alex said with a shrug. "But none of this would have happened if Izzie hadn't locked the two of us up on that roof."

"That's some impeccable logic there, Karev." Cristina said with a scoff. "Why don't you focus your anger on the people who actually did the cheating?"

"I've got plenty of anger to go around, Yang."

George stood up, "You know, I think I'm just going to ask Joe to give us the bottle."

"Good idea," Izzie said quickly.

"Never again," Alex said. "No more relationships. From here on out, just sex."

"Hear, hear," Meredith said, raising her empty glass in salute.

Izzie slumped in her seat, feeling defeated. "I really am sorry, Alex."

"Jesus, Izzie." Alex shook his head. "It's not like I actually blame you. It's not your fault she turned out to be cheating whore. I should have known better anyway. If she was willing to cheat on her husband with his best friend, I shouldn't be too surprised that she cheated on me."

"And now we get to see them everyday at work," Meredith said bitterly.

"You know things are bad when working with Sloan is the good option," Alex agreed.

"Sloan's not all that bad," Izzie said quietly.

The other three looked at her in shock.

"You've got to be kidding me," Alex groaned.

"What?" Izzie asked defensively.

"Tell me you're not actually falling for the seduction," Meredith said in disbelief.

Cristina grinned. "You're totally going to owe me fifty bucks, Alex."

"Excuse me?" Izzie asked with a raised eyebrow. "You guys were betting on whether I'd sleep with Sloan or not? I can't believe you!"

"I can't believe you're surprised," Cristina said with a shrug. "But sleeping with him is one thing, thinking he's a good guy is another. You've said it yourself plenty of times. He's a total creep."

"Who's a total creep?" George asked, returning with a bottle in hand.

"Sloan," Meredith replied simply as she took the bottle and began refilling everyone's glasses.

"Okay," George said slowly, obviously a little how the conversation had shifted.

"Izzie's decided that Sloan's a good guy after all," Meredith explained.

"Oh, Izzie, no" George exclaimed with a look of horror. "You can't be serious. Tell me you're not serious."

Izzie let out an annoyed puff of air. "Come on, guys. Back off. It's not that big of a deal, okay. He's just been really nice to me lately. I've just started to understand him, that's all."

"Just be careful, okay?" Meredith said worriedly. "The last thing we need around here is more heartbreak."

Just then, Izzie's phone began to vibrate. She glanced down, and wrinkled her brow. It wasn't a number she recognized.

"Hello?" she asked, stepping over to the side a little to the call.

"Where are you right now?"

Izzie was a little taken aback, then she recognized the voice. "Doctor Sloan?"

"Yeah," he said impatiently. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Joe's with my friends," Izzie said, a tad irritated at his tone. "Why?"

"I'm at the hospital. Come meet me."

"And why would I do that? I told you. I'm with my friends."

She could hear a sigh on the other end, then a pause before Mark spoke again.

"Please, Izzie. I've got some news you'll want to hear."

"You can't just tell me on the phone?"

"No."

"Why not?" Izzie asked, frustrated with Mark's cryptic behavior.

"Because if I try to tell you over the phone you'll just not believe me and hang up. But I figure if I get you in person I'll actually have time to convince you."

"Convince me of what?"

"Just come."

Izzie sighed. "Give me one good reason I should."

"Because I'm a good guy."

Izzie rubbed her eyes warily and gave in. "Okay. Give me five minutes. I'll meet you in the lobby." She didn't want for a response, just hung up and turned back to her friends.

"What's up, Iz?" George asked.

"I've got to run back to the hospital."

The others protested.

"Come on, we're off for the night," Meredith said.

"Sloan asked me to come back for a bit," Izzie admitted.

"This isn't the night for booty calls, " Cristina admonished.

Izzie rolled her eyes. "It's work," she insisted. "It's about a patient."

"Sure it is," Alex snorted.

"Whatever," Izzie said dismissively. "It shouldn't take that long, okay. I'll be back before you guys take off."

"Trust me," Meredith said. "We'll be here for awhile."

Izzie smiled and headed for the door, wondering what Doctor Sloan could have to say that would be so important. If Cristina was right, and this was an attempted at a booty call, she was totally going to kill him.

* * *

  
&lt;


	30. Chapter 30

"Stevens!"

Izzie had just entered the hospital when she heard her name being called. She looked up to see Mark headed down the stairs toward her. She really didn't know why he had asked her to come, or why she had agreed to. But if this all turned out to be another part of him trying to seduce her, she was going to be severely annoyed.

"Why am I here, Doctor Sloan?"

"I'll explain soon. Let's find somewhere private to talk." Mark took Izzie by the elbow, and began to lead her back upstairs.

Izzie thought about fighting him, but decided it would just be easier to let herself be led. They walked in silence down the hallway before Mark stopped in front of the door to one of the on-call rooms, holding the door open and motioning for Izzie to enter.

She entered the room with a raised eyebrow and turned to stare at Mark as he came in after her, closing the door behind him.

"You know," she said sharply, "if my friends are right, and this is some sort of booty call, I'm going to kick your ass."

Mark stared for a moment, surprised. Then a slow grin crossed his face. "No, Stevens. This isn't a booty call. But I'm so glad to know that's where your mind went when I called."

Izzie didn't bother to respond. She just rolled her eyes and sat down on the edge of the bottom bunk. "Okay. So, why did you call me then."

"Because," Mark replied, "Addison and Derek are miserable and I need your help."

Izzie immediately got to her feet. "I can't believe you dragged me over here for this!" She headed for the door, but Mark held out an arm to block her way.

"Wait. Please, just sit down and let me explain. As a favor to me if nothing else."

"And why should I do you any favors?" Izzie asked, still trying to get to the door.

"Because I'm a good guy, remember?" Mark replied, a serious expression on his face.

Izzie cursed under her breath and then relented. She was still angry, but Sloan seemed genuine. And he hadn't exactly been thrilled when he heard about Addison and Derek's indiscretion in the first place, so she was curious as to why he'd care about them being miserable right now.

She let out an impatient sigh and sat down on the bed once again. "Fine. Explain, please."

"They didn't sleep together." He held up a hand to stop the protest he knew was coming. "Well," he continued, "they didn't have sex anyway. They fell asleep in Addie's hotel room, but that's it. They just slept."

Izzie scoffed. "Oh come on. You, of all people, can't possibly believe that."

Mark raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me? Why 'me of all people'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, I'm sure you've given plenty of bogus excuses to angry girlfriends in the past when they've caught you with someone else."

Mark grimaced slightly, but had to admit that Izzie had a point.

"Alright," he admitted after a moment. "But the flip side of that, is I'm good at recognizing bogus excuses. And this isn't one. It should be, I know. If anyone else said that, I'd never believe it. But they wouldn't lie. Not to me. Not about this."

For a long moment, Izzie just stared at him, studying his face. "You really don't think they had sex?"

"I really don't. I'm not saying what they did was smart. Sex or not, they shouldn't have ended up in bed together. But Addie says they were just talking. Hell, they were talking about how they wanted to fix their relationships with Karev and Grey."

Izzie shook her head. "Okay. I believe you. And it's really messed up. You know that I was all about Alex and Doctor Montgomery getting together, but why call me? What do you think I can do about it?"

"Addison and Derek couldn't even get Alex and Meredith to talk to them today. I thought having you know the truth could help. Couldn't you just admonish them until you get your way? It worked on me and Derek, right?"

Izzie rolled her eyes. "If it worked on you, wouldn't you have stopped with the seduction plan already?"

"If you really wanted me to stop," Mark said with a grin. "But you don't. You did however, get both Derek and myself to back off on the whole Karev thing."

"So I'm just supposed to talk to Meredith and Alex and make everything better?"

Mark shook his head. "No. Just get them to give Addie and Derek a chance. Do you think you can do that?"

Izzie grinned wryly. "I don't think locking people on the roof is a ploy you can use more than once."

Mark laughed a little. "No, probably not. But I'm sure the type of mind that can come up with something that crazy and brilliant can come up with something else equally effective."

Izzie narrowed her eyes. "You know, you didn't think that plan was brilliant at the time."

Mark ran a hand through his hair. "I was angry at the time, sure. But Addison was never going to be with me in the long-term. Besides, I've got my eyes on someone else now," he added, looking at Izzie meaningfully.

"I'm not going to jump into bed with you, Mark. It's just not me. I want more than that."

Mark was quiet for a long moment, then came and sat down on the bed next to Izzie. "This-," he hesitated. "This isn't really like me, but I'm just going to come out and say it. I don't want to just sleep with you." He smiled, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I want to sleep with you." Then he faltered again. "But that's not what I'm after here."

Izzie looked at him. "What are you after?"

Mark groaned. "You're actually going to make me say it, aren't you?"

Izzie nodded. "If you have something to say, I want to hear it. I need to. I need to really know."

Mark sighed. "You're strong. And you're smart. You have the makings of a great doctor. You're funny. You're loyal to your friends. You don't take shit from anyone. You're hot as hell, yeah. But you're a lot more than that. Give me a chance to prove that I'm more than people think."

"Okay," Izzie said simply.

Mark looked up in surprise. "Okay?"

"Tomorrow," Izzie said firmly. "We'll have a date. A real one. Dinner, maybe a movie. And a chance to prove there is more to you than McSteamy. I know you can be a nice guy. But I need to see you can be a good one."

"As long as you're not expecting me to be Mr. Rogers."

Izzie snorted. "I'm an optimist, not an idiot."

"But you will come up with a plan?"

"I'm not going to make any promises, Doctor Sloan. I want my friends to be happy, but there's only so much I can do. I can't force them to believe that nothing happened. Alex is especially stubborn. And thinking that Addison betrayed him...well, I don't know if he'll ever be willing to listen to anything she has to say."

"I understand that," Mark said. "But I want my friends to be happy again. I think that if they are, things might be like they used to be with the three of us. Not exactly the same, obviously, but something close to it."

"I'll think of something," Izzie affirmed. "But I may need your help."

"You'll get it," Mark said with a smile. "I'm always up for a good scheme."

\--

"Do you think they're having sex right now?"

Meredith slammed down her shot glass. "Oh, for god's sake, Cristina!"

"What?" Cristina asked, confused by her friend's anger. "Oh, no. Not Shepherd and Montgomery-Shepherd. I meant Izzie and Sloan."

George grimaced. "Why? Why, why, why would you possibly say that?"

"Oh come on," Cristina said. "You know she was lying about that whole 'checking on a patient' thing."

"Izzie isn't sleeping with Sloan," Alex said dismissively. "She's not that stupid."

"Again," Cristina said, "I must point out that she was stupid enough to sleep with you."

Alex shot her a nasty look, but took a sip of his beer rather than say anything.

"Is it such a big deal if she is sleeping with him?" Meredith asked.

"Yes!" George and Alex said in unison.

Meredith shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just saying. She was really messed up after Denny died. And she hasn't been in a relationship since. It's not like I think she should marry Sloan or anything, but maybe he'll help her finally move on."

"Or maybe he'll break her heart and she'll be back lying on the bathroom floor again," Alex suggested.

"She's a grown woman, Alex," Meredith pointed out. "And she's tougher than you give her credit for. She's capable of handling Mark Sloan."

"You'll have to forgive me for not putting a lot of faith in the power of relationships right now," Alex said bitterly.

Meredith sighed, defeated. "Yeah. Yeah. You're right. Let's just get drunk."

\--


	31. Chapter 31

Izzie stared up at her ceiling. She couldn't sleep. She had gotten back from the bar hours ago, and had gone straight to bed, only to keep tossing and turning. All she could think about was coming up with a plan to fix the tangled mess that was her friends' relationships. She kept running through everything in her head, but always arrived back at square one. There wasn't any sort of wacky plan or scheme that was going to fix this.

Then it hit her. She smiled into the darkness. Suddenly, she was actually looking forward to going to work in the morning. She had a plan.

*******

"That's not a plan!" Mark protested, sitting across a cafeteria table, a cup of coffee and a doughnut in front of him.

"Exactly," Izzie said proudly.

"What?"

"That's the plan."

Mark shook his head. "The plan is that there is no plan?"

Izzie nodded. "Yep.

"And you think that'll work," Mark asked doubtfully.

"I don't know. But I think it's the only thing that even has a chance."

Mark shrugged and took a bite us his doughnut. "Okay. But your the one who gets to tell that to them."

He gestured behind Izzie and she turned to see Addison and Derek approaching the table.

"Mark said you had a plan?" Derek asked as he sat down.

"Sort of," Izzie said.

Derek and Addison exchanged looks. "What's a sort of plan?" Addison asked.

"That there isn't a plan."

Addison warily glanced from Izzie to Mark to Derek and then back again.

"You want to run that by us again?"

"You can't wave a magic wand and fix this. There's no complicated, whacky scheme to work this all out. You have to talk to them. Like adults."

"They don't seem in any sort of mood to listen," Derek pointed out.

"Then make them. Talk to them. Keep talking to them. Yeah, they're pissed. And frankly, they have a right to be."

Addison and Derek both protested, but Izzie waved it away.

"Look. I believe that nothing actually happened between you two. Otherwise, believe me, I wouldn't be having this conversation with you right now. But what Alex walked in on...how could he have taken it any other way. Of course they're pissed. So you have to make them listen. You have to explain and apologize and keep explaining and apologizing. You might not have had an affair, but you did screw up.

If you really want them, if you really love them...you're going to have to fight. Yes, they'll yell. Yes, they'll probably say some pretty nasty things. But you keep talking. You make them believe the truth. That you didn't betray them. And you keep at it. Because, giving up? That'd be the real betrayal."

******

Addison's first few tries didn't go very well. The first attempt was on the elevator. She got as far as "You need to know what really happened" before Alex got off on a floor that Addison knew was six stories below the one he was headed for.

The second time was in the on-call room. She barely even finished saying his name before he was storming out the door.

What she really wanted was a place where Alex couldn't just leave. Some place he'd be forced to listen to her. But the place that was really true of was the operating room during a surgery. Which is hardly the best place for the kind of conversation they needed to have. She wasn't going to put a patient at risk just to have it out with her boyfriend.

At the end of the day, Addison was frustrated and exhausted. She sighed heaving as she slipped in a booth at Joe's, gratefully accepting the beer that Derek slid across the table.

"Any luck?" Derek asked.

"Would I be here right now if there had been?" Addison replied.

"You know," Mark said as he sat down next to Addison, "You two probably aren't doing yourselves any favors by hanging out together."

Derek shrugged. "We made an agreement on that. We've been in each other's lives too long to stop talking now. We've been through so much and are finally at a place where we can be friends."

"Just friends," Addison interjected.

Derek agreed, then continued. "Christ, we work at the same hospital, we can't just ignore each other. I want Meredith back, I do. But I also don't want to give up a friendship I've had for all of my adult life."

"So what now?" Mark asked.

"Try, try again." Addison raised her beer and took a long swig.

"The frustrating thing is I think we could work things out if I could just get him to actually listen to me," Addison lamented. "But he just walks off before I can say two words.

"You should yell at him," Mark suggested.

Addison raised an eyebrow. "I should yell at him?" she asked skeptically.

"He'd listen if you'd yell," Mark continued. "You're scary when you yell."

Derek nodded in hearty agreement. "Seriously, you really are."

"So I should scare my boyfriend into forgiving me? That's really what you're suggesting?"

"Worth a shot," Mark said. "After all, it's not like you could make thing any worse."

"Yell at him..." Addison mused. "I suppose it's worth a try."

"Somehow I don't think that same move will work with Meredith," Derek said glumly, staring at his drink.

"No," Addison said. "Probably not."

"Sorry, man." Mark shook his head. "I think you're probably screwed.

\---------------

"Seriously?" Meredith asked as she sat down at a table on the other side of the bar. "Seriously?"

Izzie looked across the room to where Mark, Derek and Addison were seated. "We don't have to stay here."

"We're staying," Alex said as he slammed his glass on the table and sat down. "They're not driving me out of my bar."

Izzie looked at the trio at the table, then back to her friends. "Did you talk to them at all today?" she asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Alex snorted. "No. Addison tried a couple of times, but there was no way I was listening to that crap."

"Same with me and Derek," Meredith said with a sigh.

"Good for you," Cristina said.

"Maybe you should hear them out. Come one, there could be a logical explanation for what happened."

"Izzie," Cristina said, rolling her eyes, "The logical explanation is that they had sex."

Izzie frowned. She knew the truth, but they didn't need to hear it from her. They probably wouldn't believe it from her either. What was she going to say, "Mark told me that Addison and Derek told him that they didn't have sex"? Yeah, that was sure to go over perfectly well. No reason they'd doubt that whatsoever. She sighed and glanced at her watch.

"Actually guys, I've got to go."

"What?" Meredith protested. "Izzie, this was supposed to 'drinking our troubles away night.'"

"I thought that was last night," Cristina pointed out.

"It's probably going to be a lot of nights," Meredith countered.

"And as much as I'd love to be here for this one," Izzie began, "I've actually got a date."

Cristina wrinkled her nose. "Like an actually date, date? Who with?"

That question was answered by the appearance of a certain surgeon who was rapidly approaching their table.

"Hey, Stevens," Mark said with a smile. "You ready to go?"

Izzie rolled her eyes, "Okay, first rule of the real date is that you have to use my first name."

"Izzie," Mark said grinning, a friendly mocking tone in his voice. "Are you ready for our real date?"

"Let's go," Izzie said shaking her head. She smiled and linked her arm through his. "I'll see you guys later, alright?" she called over her shoulder as she and Mark headed out. She turned back to her date and asked how Derek and Addison were doing.

Mark sighed. "Okay, second rule of the real date is we don't talk about the messed up romantic lives of our friends, deal?"

"Deal," Izzie nodded. "But you better be taking me somewhere nice."

As couple left the bar, several pairs of eyes watched them go.

"Did that just really happen?" Cristina asked.

"I think so," Meredith said warily.

"Sloan and Izzie are going on a date. Like an actual date?" Cristina shook her head. "What the hell?"

Alex motioned toward the window where Mark and Izzie could be seen waiting to cross the street. "That right there is another weeks worth of 'drinking out troubles away' waiting to happen."

\------


End file.
